Disappearing Man

ISBN: 1936164337

Author: Doug Peterson

Condition: Used

Henry Box Brown s story is one of the most incredible tales of escape in the history of the Underground Railroad the secret network that helped slaves flee to the North. With the assistance of two other men, Henry Brown was sealed in a wooden box, 3 feet long, 2 feet, 8 inches high, and 23 inches wide. Then he was mailed from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia, a 26-hour adventure in which he was stuck upside down for long, painful stretches, and at other times was dropped on the ground, nearly breaking his neck. Henry decided to escape after two pivotal events in his life. The first was the splitting up of his family when he was about fifteen years old. When his master, John Barret, died in 1830, Henry s family was divided among five sons. Henry wound up working in a Richmond tobacco factory under the eye of William Barret. The second watershed event was the sale of his wife and children, who had a different master than Henry. They were sold in August of 1848; and on Christmas of that same year, Henry began plotting his escape. I have written both a novel and screenplay, based on Henry s two first-person narratives, written in 1849 and 1851. The Disappearing Man includes all of the elements that give a book or film mass appeal. It is a thrilling escape story, and it is a love story between Henry and Nancy; it also includes a compelling, true-life villain in the figure Henry s factory overseer, John Allen. The Disappearing Man takes readers and viewers into a world they have never seen before the urban slavery system, which was worlds apart from the plantation system that most people are familiar with from books and film. But most important, it is a gripping tale about the lengths people will go to in seeking freedom. Henry Box Brown was a sensation in his day, but he has become largely forgotten in history. The Disappearing Man brings to light one of the lost heroes of the Underground Railroad.

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