| Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: Portrait of an American Hero Contributor(s): Larson, Kate Clifford (Author) |
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ISBN: 0345456289 ISBN-13: 9780345456281 Publisher: One World OUR PRICE: $17.10 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: December 2004 Annotation: Harriet Tubman is one of the giants of American history--a fearless visionary who led scores of her fellow slaves to freedom and battled courageously behind enemy lines during the Civil War. And yet in the nine decades since her death, next to nothing has been written about this extraordinary woman aside from juvenile biographies. The truth about Harriet Tubman has become lost inside a legend woven of racial and gender stereotypes. Now at last, in this long-overdue biography, historian Kate Clifford Larson gives Harriet Tubman the powerful, intimate, meticulously detailed life she deserves. Drawing from a trove of new documents and sources as well extensive genealogical research, Larson reveals Tubman as a complex woman-- brilliant, shrewd, deeply religious, and passionate in her pursuit of freedom. The descendant of the vibrant, matrilineal Asanti people of the West African Gold Coast, Tubman was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of Maryland but refused to spend her life in bondage. While still a young woman she embarked on a perilous journey of self-liberation--and then, having won her own freedom, she returned again and again to liberate family and friends, tapping into the Underground Railroad. Yet despite her success, her celebrity, her close ties with Northern politicians and abolitionists, Tubman suffered crushing physical pain and emotional setbacks. Stripping away myths and misconceptions, Larson presents stunning new details about Tubman's accomplishments, personal life, and influence, including her relationship with Frederick Douglass, her involvement with John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, and revelations about a young woman who may have been Tubman's daughter.Here too are Tubman's twilight years after the war, when she worked for women's rights and in support of her fellow blacks, and when racist politicians and suffragists marginalized her contribution. Harriet Tubman, her life and her work, remain an inspiration to all who value freedom. Now, thanks to Larson's breathtaking biography, we can finally appreciate Tubman as a complete human being--an American hero, yes, but also a woman who loved, suffered, and sacrificed. "Bound for the Promised Land is a magnificent work of biography, history, and truth telling. "From the Hardcover edition. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Historical - Biography & Autobiography | Cultural, Ethnic & Regional - African American & Black - Social Science | Slavery |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2004111071 |
| Series: Many Cultures, One World |
| Physical Information: 1.1" H x 5.1" W x 7.9" (0.75 lbs) 432 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Ethnic Orientation - African American |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The essential, "richly researched"* biography of Harriet Tubman, revealing a complex woman who "led a remarkable life, one that her race, her sex, and her origins make all the more extraordinary" (*The New York Times Book Review). Harriet Tubman is one of the giants of American history--a fearless visionary who led scores of her fellow slaves to freedom and battled courageously behind enemy lines during the Civil War. Now, in this magnificent biography, historian Kate Clifford Larson gives us a powerful, intimate, meticulously detailed portrait of Tubman and her times. Drawing from a trove of new documents and sources as well as extensive genealogical data, Larson presents Harriet Tubman as a complete human being--brilliant, shrewd, deeply religious, and passionate in her pursuit of freedom. A true American hero, Tubman was also a woman who loved, suffered, and sacrificed. Praise for Bound for the Promised Land " Bound for the Promised Land] appropriately reads like fiction, for Tubman's exploits required such intelligence, physical stamina and pure fearlessness that only a very few would have even contemplated the feats that she actually undertook. . . . Larson captures Tubman's determination and seeming imperviousness to pain and suffering, coupled with an extraordinary selflessness and caring for others."--The Seattle Times "Essential for those interested in Tubman and her causes . . . Larson does an especially thorough job of . . . uncovering relevant documents, some of them long hidden by history and neglect."--The Plain Dealer "Larson has captured Harriet Tubman's clandestine nature . . . reading Ms. Larson made me wonder if Tubman is not, in fact, the greatest spy this country has ever produced."--The New York Sun |