Biography of a Runaway Slave: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition Kindle Edition

Mr. Barnet does an exceptional job telling the story of Esteban Montez and Afro-Cubans in Cuba during and immediately after slavery.

I would have read this book even if it was not required. Very interesting first-hand portrayal of Haitian history. Well written and a good look at life before, during and after the Haitian revolution.

Very interesting story of a time that never should have occurred but now should never be forgotten.

Kind of rambling, but it is very engaging and a great resource to learn from.

This book gives great insight into a slave's life and his attitudes before and after freedom. He also tells about living in the woods as a runaway. Well worth the money.

Good Work. Thank you.

The singular virtue of this riveting story is the re-creation of the mind of a 103-year-old man, Esteban Montejo, remembering his life through a series of changes of slavery, emancipation, revolution, the Spanish-American War, which few of us can imagine. This the translator does with great passion, great humor, and great honesty. The story has been rendered with great delicacy and a flavour the catches Creole rhythms. Recalling being disciplined by an officer during the revolution for leaving his post without permission, Esteban remarks, "I was saved, but I still go around thinking about that man's mother." Later, recalling the past and looking to the future, he remarks, "I don't want to die so that I can fight all the battles yet to come. I won't get into the trenches or use any of these modern weapons. A machete will do for me."The present text is apparently a reworking of a 1966 text by the same translator, which was used in German translation by the avant-garde composer Hans Werner Henze as the 'libretto' for his stage work "El Cimarron", for vocalist and a small chamber group. El Cimarron has also been performed in English, using Barnet's original text.

The actual slave of the Biography of a Runaway Slave is ex Cuban slave Esteban Montejo. Montejo's life story is uniquely interesting because it speaks to life on and off the plantation. Montejo's candid retelling of his life under slavery introduces the reader to details about slavery and slave populations erased in general discussions of slavery. When Montejo recalls the Chinese indentured servants and slaves who distanced themselves from other slaves, the Congolese and the Lucumis and their respective spiritual practices, as well as the fights between the two, the shortage of women that caused men to be with men (as well as communal acceptance of this), the barter system between area whites, non-slaves, and slaves, and the roaming escaped slaves and the free black communities he encounters during his time in the woods he forces the reader to re-examine common notions of slavery. His story offers a nice supplement and/or counter (depending on your own politics) of current literature on slavery (i.e. Brent, Equiano, Douglass, Prince, Blassingame,etc..). My only concern with this text is that it was originally titled autobiography and has since been retitled biography. While this may explain the occassionally abrupt topic changes in the text, I wonder if there is more to it. Even though memory games make autobiographies suspect (ya' know- biased), biographies heighten the concern about the presentation of the material. Yeah,I know everyone has an agenda. You still need to find out what it is to know if you agree or not.(I'm going to start reseaching Barnet and why it is a bio and not an auto anymore.)Nonetheless. . .happy reading because it's a great text.

Delivered in good time. Reasonable value for money. Happy with purchase