This is the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York who was captured in the United States and sold into slavery in Louisiana. Drawing from primary source documents, including Northup's own memoir, this compelling book has a narrative that is packed with the action of Solomon's 12 - year odyssey as a slave and historical perspective on the human experience of buying and selling human beings. Period artwork is included to given even more historical context to this stunning story.