The 2018 Broadview edition of Douglass’s Narrative could not be timelier。 Its relevance bears equally and urgently on our own fraught lives and time。 Celeste-Marie Bernier has given us a view into the life of the Narrative and its author that is so full and intimate as to make this edition definitive by any standard。 In words and images， Bernier’s Douglass—autobiographer， orator， bookseller， family man， fugitive—cuts a bold black figure。 No ex-slave or abolitionist ever damned slavery so surely self-possessed。” — Maurice Wallace， University of Virginia

“An outstanding edition from one of the world’s great Douglass scholars。 Bernier provides a comprehensive biographical， historical， and literary introduction， numerous illustrations， and a wealth of primary materials that allow readers to develop fresh and exciting political， familial， and trans-Atlantic perspectives on Douglass’s most widely read autobiography。” — Robert S。 Levine， Distinguished University Professor， University of Maryland， and author of The Lives of Frederick Douglass

“Bernier’s edition of Frederick Douglass’s Narrative will immediately establish its place as the most original and timely version of the great black abolitionist’s bestselling text。 Without romanticizing Douglass， Bernier uncovers his skills as a self-reflective writer and experimental autobiographer and contextualizes his work within survivor narratives written by slaves and former slaves throughout the Atlantic world。 Bernier’s edition of the Narrative is the text for twenty-first-century readers。 It reminds us that black lives mattered in Douglass’s day—just as they do today。” — John David Smith， University of North Carolina at Charlotte