Product Description

Harriet Tubman was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the U.S. Civil War. After escaping from captivity, she made thirteen missions to rescue over seventy slaves using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and in the post-war era struggled for women's suffrage. Born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman was beaten and whipped by her various owners as a child. Early in her life, she suffered a traumatic head wound when an irate slave owner threw a heavy metal weight at her, intending to hit another slave. The injury caused disabling seizures, headaches, and powerful visionary and dream activity, and spells of hypersomnia which occurred throughout her entire life. A devout Christian, she ascribed her visions and vivid dreams to premonitions from God. In 1849, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia, then immediately returned to Maryland to rescue her family. Slowly, one group at a time, she brought relatives with her out of the state, and eventually guided dozens of other slaves to freedom. Traveling by night and in extreme secrecy, Tubman (or "Moses", as she was called) "never lost a passenger". Heavy rewards were offered for many of the people she helped bring away, but no one ever knew it was Harriet Tubman who was helping them. When a far-reaching United States Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850, she helped guide fugitives further north into Canada, and helped newly-freed slaves find work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73267 in eBooks
• Published on: 2008-10-28
• Format: Kindle Book

About the Author
Sarah Bradford is a historian and biographer. She is the bestselling author of several biographies, including Disraeli, selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; George VI; Princess Grace; and The New York Times bestseller Elizabeth. Married to the Viscount Bangor, she lives in London.

Customer Reviews

An Exemplary Life
I first read this book in my last year as an undergrad-- and it had a profound effect on me immediately. Sarah Bradford's account of this courageous woman is revealing not only because it was written during Harriet Tubman's time (thereby showing some of the abolitionist sentiment of this period), but also because it contains Harriet Tubman's views on Harriet Tubman. Harriet's perspective of her own life is a deeply spiritual one--and the spiritual panoramic begins from her birth to old age, the common thread being her faith in God, her unshakable vision of freedom, and her consuming desire to see the freedom of others come to pass. Her courage, her incredible faith in God, her selflessness and sacrifice, her almost brutal determination, and her demonstrated love for others will bring those who read this book into a deep self-examination. "Harriet Tubman" is a transforming book that I will read over and over. I recommend this book for all ages, and for anyone doing indepth research on Tubman's roles as an Underground Railroad conductor and abolitionist, Civil War nurse, soldier,and spy. Many thanks to the publishers for making this classic available for this generation.

Great...
I thought that this book was great. I enjoyed that it was written by someone in Harriet's time, except that some of the terminolgy is confusing. If you read this book, you will learn a lot about Harriet, and her adventures, but remember the dictionary!

God Bless Mrs. Tubman
A very informative book. Prior to reading this book, I had assumed Mrs. Tubman took her people to the North, the land of "Freedom". I was wrong, Mrs. Tubman had to take her people all the way to Canada, to be free. In the North, with the passage of the fugitive slave act, Harriett Tubman knew her people would/and could be 'captured' by Northern slave catches, ( who frequently captured free African-Americans as well) and sold them back into slavery) Traveling at night, hiding in the swamps, carring laudnum to keep the crying babies from crying and giving them away, and a pistol for safety, and risking her very life should she be captured.

I regret there was never more recorded history on Harriett Tubman. Her bravery, and heroism are awe inspiring. She risked her life 19 times, to save her people, and bring them to Canada, for Canada was the end of the Undergound Railroad.

Mrs. Tubman serves as a true American Hero, that went far beyond and above, what the vast majority of us would do.

I take my hat off to you, Mrs Tubman. God Bless you.