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Read the remarkable true story, in Solomon Northup’s own words, that inspired the film – directed by Steve McQueen and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Fassbender.
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Northup’s meticulous first-hand recordings of slave life provide a true-life testament to tremendous courage and tenacity in the face of unfathomable injustice. Tricked by two men offering him a job as a musician in New York State in 1841, Solomon Northup was drugged and kidnapped. His life in jeopardy, he was forced to assume a new name and fake past. Taken to Louisiana on a disease-riddenplague ship, he was initially sold to a cotton planter.
In the twelve years that followed he was sold to many different owners who treated him with varying levels of savagery; forced labour, scant food and numerous beatings. Against all odds, Northup eventually succeeded in contacting a sympathetic party and managed to get word to his family. The ensuing rescue and legal cases were no less shocking and intriguing than the rest of the tale.
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This competition has closed. The winners are Katie Walden Hall (@comper2013) from Kingswood, Christine Bray (@chrriss88) from Leeds, Dan Mossop (@danmossop89) from Chester, Ian Yates (@deaddogsmoking) from Clitheroe and John T Mead (@johnmadmead) from Kent.
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