Henry Louis Gates, Jr., presents a seminal volume of four classic slave narratives, including the 1749 texts of <i>The Life of Olaudah Equiano</i>, the last edition corrected and published in his lifetime. The collection also includes perhaps the best known and most widely read slave narrative--<i>Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass</i>, as well as two narratives by women: <i>The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave</i>, and <i>Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl</i>, written by Harriet Jacobs as Linda Brent. This edition also features an updated introduction by Professor Gates.