Part of the Penguin Great Journeys series this was an interesting read giving a rare view of slavery from the inside. What is most telling is the way in which we can see that the system of slavery, particularly as it was found in the West Indies, allowed otherwise normal and 'civilised' people to carry out acts of immense cruelty without a second thought - the parallels to the Holocaust are self evident. But what makes the life story of Olaudah Equiano most shocking and so powerful an indictment against slavery is the fact that isn't an unrelenting tale of woe. Alongside the moments of gross inhumanity there are moments of joy born out of humanity at its best - and these serve to make the cruelty all the more real.
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