For my final project I chose to do a review of the book “A Slave No More” written by David W. Blight. In his book, Blight tells the story about two men, John M. Washington and Wallace Turnage and their escape from slavery during The Civil War. Blight provides us with copies of the narratives of both men. In my review I will break down Blights book regarding the stories of John M. Washington and Wallace Turnage. In my paper I will share a critique of the book and give my opinion of this book. This is an incredible story of the first person narratives of two men who escaped to freedom. In the first part of his book Blight tells us the stories of John M. Washington and Wallace Turnage. From research he has gathered, he tells the story of both of these men and uses information from both of the narratives. Blight breaks the book down into chapters telling us the story of John M. Washington first. In the first chapter blight tell us about Washington’s life as a slave up until his escape to freedom. “John M. Washington was born a slave on May 20, 1838 in Fredericksburg, Virginia (Blight 17). John knew his mother Sarah, who was twenty one when she gave birth to John, but did not know his father. Blight does a nice job explaining Washington’s life as a youngster and his life as a slave. We learn about how he met his future wife Annie and he goes on to discuss John’s ability to become very clever and a good con man early in life which eventually helps him escape to freedom. Blight wraps up this chapter with Washington’s escape to freedom. Blight then uses the second chapter to discuss Wallace Turnage. “Wallace Turnage was born on August 24, 1846, in the Tyson’s Marsh district of Green County near Snow Hill, North Carolina” (Blight 55) Wallace knew both his mother Courtney, who gave birth to Wallace when she was just 15, and his father Slyvester Turnage. Like John Washington Wallace Turnage was of mixed race. Blight discusses the life
Bibliography: Blight, David A Slave No More. Boston New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt