Like many of the reviewers of this book, I found this quite a chilling story. I was pleasantly surprised by the simple and very readable writing, not as flowery as other writers of the times. And the story of Douglass’ resourcefulness in working his way to freedom was really key. The part of the book that really struck me was near the middle, where Douglass is describing the first of his masters to be mean. He repeats the word mean many times over within a few pages in his descriptions of this m...

To say that I have been inspired by Frederick Douglass is an understatement. He was a man of grace, grit, integrity, intelligence, wisdom, honor, compassion, humility and tenacity. My favorite parts of the book was his conversion to Christ on page 69, the effects of slavery on his body, soul, and spirit on page 104, his friendship and influence with President Lincoln, his inspiring words to the black soldiers enlisted in the Union Army on page 329, and his reunion with his old master Captain Au

Wonderful autobiography. The only slightly silly reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5 stars, is because "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," and "My Escape from Slavery" were compact power-punches of writing. By contrast, this one was long enough that it had time to meander, for example, into topics like Douglass's relation to the Freedman's Savings Bank that to a modern reader isn't as interesting.

It is mentioned in the introduction that Frederick Douglass was a better orator than writer, well he must have been quite the speaker. Fabulous writing, even more so given the manner of how he came to learn English. Such righteous determination of spirit. His mind was full of insight and and a keen sense of justice from an early age, and his impassioned, skillful arguments that pepper the work stand the test of time. His humble and piercing view that the system of slavery subjected both slaver a...

"The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass: Written by Himself" by Frederick Douglass is an outstanding autobiography of the former slave and abolitionist. Frederick Douglass is a larger-than-life figure and one of the most important leaders of the 19th Century United States. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in U.S. history or slavery. [I hope to expand this review in the future when time permits.]Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Notes: Audiobook: Narrated by: Richard Allen Length: 21...

What an incredible time through which Douglas lived. Fascinating hearing first hand accounts of the pining and agitating for slavery abolition around the young nation and new territories, the movements toward secession by the southern states, the war that followed, and the ultimate liberation of millions of humans. Makes me want to read first hand accounts of those freed from the oppression of soviet communism behind the iron curtain in my time. And, what an inspirational individual was Douglass...

Each August, members of our neighborhood book group nominate books for the following year. With more than twenty members in the group, we usually have between 15-20 books to consider when we vote in September. This year one of the ten chosen books was Frederick Douglass’s third autobiography, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass which was published in 1892.Before I started to read the book, I expected it would help me better understand American history. I was shocked, however, to discover th...

I became interested in Frederick Douglass in high school, for the most shallow of reasons: I saw his picture in my history book and thought he was awfully cute.Since then, he's popped up here and there throughout my life and whatever I learn about him is fascinating. This narrative is no different, he seems to have been an inspiring, strong, thoughtful, analytical person.It's time I start reading more of his work.

I finally read this book after a long time getting to it. The story is well written by a humble, intelligent, literate and soulful person. A true American icon and hero. It was an honest rendition of his life with aplomb, grace and kindness. He recorded important events for history for which all should be familiar. Yet, we tend to repeat our mistakes, over and over again.

Considering the slave Frederick Douglass was never allowed to set foot in a school, the exact and proper prose in this incredible story demonstrates the depth of his self-education. He learned to read on the sly, having been (illegally) taught the alphabet by a kindly master's wife. Douglass's story includes more 'humane' masters as well as an incredibly cruel one. The drudgery of daily slave life and the horror of whippings come through vividly in this biography that starts in Maryland. Douglas...

Read this in under 4 hours for a research paper, it's Frederick Douglas's final biography written after the civil war. An old man now, He goes off and visits his former slave-masters. Tl;DR Slavery is over but racism is alive and strong, and will try to rienstate it if it has its way.

“The Life and Times of Fredrick Douglass” is at once a fascinating journey back to a pivotal time in American history, a chronicle of the practical indignities of American racial oppression and an enduring monument to the constancy of human dignity. Douglass was a remarkable man whose life is worthy of exploration. Born into slavery, he endured its humiliations for almost twenty years. Yet as a young man, he grew indignant over the notion that he was less than anyone else and, over time, slowly

5+ stars & 7/10 hearts. I read the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass earlier this year and was extremely impressed. So when I discovered he had two other autobiographies, I decided to read them all. I should have read them in order, since he added more details to each, but no matter. This autobiography was written after the Civil War, when he could be more open about his former life & acquaintances, his method of escape, and his actions leading up to and during the Civil War. (Alth...

Frederick Douglass is one of humanity’s greatest, as evidenced by his actions and words recorded here.

The Life of Frederick Douglas is a book that anyone should read. This man lived such a life of despair and struggle and is able to show gratitude to the few people in his life that helped him. He creates very detailed scenes of his experiences without using much emotion. Readers are then able to create their own emotions toward the text. Douglas doesn't need to use pathos thoughout much of his autobiography due to the brutal facts of situations he has been through. His journey out of slavery is

This is one of the greatest books in American literature. As critical a read as The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Benjamin Franklin. It's just so good. And Douglass moves through every station possible in human society, from the most maltreated and oppressed to the most empowered. He never turns his back on the cause for Black (and female) liberty no matter how elevated he gets. The man's perspective on Lincoln is the most informed view of that complicated white man I've read (see FD's 1876 spe...

This is such a fine work, and I regret that I have not read it sooner. In addition to being some of the best prose written by an American, it offers relevant and irreplaceable historical commentary during a very important and turbulent time for the United States, and it does so while chronicling the unlikeliest of stories: the rise of Mr. Douglass himself. Should be required reading for every American, but that's a lost cause: Americans prefer television and sports to learning about the great ch...

DNF. The life-story is fascinating, but this autobiography is hard to listen to because of the old-fashioned writing style that seems overly complex even to my nerdy ears.

This is the third and longest of the autobiographies of Frederick Douglass and it raises some interesting questions for the reader. Like Leaves of Grass, Whitman's sprawling poetic opus, this book serves to update the reader's understanding of the life of Frederick Douglass not by building onto the previous volumes that the author had written but rather by seeking to replace it with another tale going back to the beginning of the author's life and going to the present. This reader, at least, won...

One cannot call themselves a student of American history without reading this book.