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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
Albeit not a complete biography of Harriet Tubman I would qualify it as a very important one being that it was written during her life by a lady who knew her well and many of those whose lives were affected or came in contact with or contributed a letter to the work. I find it astonishing that Mrs. Tubman managed to accomplish not several but nineteen trips to the south to rescue her people from bondage to freedom in Canada, worked as a spy, nurse and where needed for the Union Army during the Civil War, established a hospital for her people and joined the suffrage movement. A champion of her people she never wavered from her trust in the Lord and the path she felt was ordained to follow led her forward. I acquired this book free from the public domain and I hope others will take advantage of it being made available. This is a more personal look into the life of a amazing woman that any written biography could be. Including interviews in her own voice, songs sung on the way to freedom, the challenges she faced, letters and correspondence with notable people of the time.
informative
medium-paced
Its weirdly tantalizing, to read a biography of Harriet Tubman, while she was alive, yet for her voice to be actually heard so little in the book. In theory, I’m sure it made sense at the time, for her to be the voice for Tubman, corroborate her authenticity, and help her raise funds. But now it just comes across as another veil between us and a remarkable woman. Its also pretty casually racist at points. So cool to get close, but all three stars go to Tubman, not her narrator.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
This book was written while Harriet was still alive. She told her stories to Sarah Hopkins, although according to Sarah, she was modest about her work. It was fascinating to read the stories told from Harriet's point of view. As my teenage daughter says, "She's my new favorite famous person."
So fascinating to read an account of Harriet Tubman’s life from someone who was alive at the same time. I really enjoyed learning more about Harriet’s bravery and goodness, and I loved getting a glimpse of her voice. The book itself was very scattered and hard to follow, but that may be due to the original purpose of this book and different writing style of the times. Either way, it’s worth the read!
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
When I first bought this e-book via BookBub, I thought it was a concise telling of Harriet Tubman's life. Technically it is. It's about as concise as one can be when writing about a woman who couldn't read, write, or really brag about her secret Underground Railroad. This book is more like a re-telling of eye-witness and second-hand accounts.
There's another thing I hadn't expected; the book was written and published nearing the end of Tubman's life in order to raise money for her livelihood. So it's not your typical history book. The first-person narration is choppy and jumps around from different parts of Tubman's life as though you're sitting down for coffee with an old friend. It definitely takes some attention to detail and even some historical familiarity to truly enjoy this book. I had to Google a couple things here and there to fully understand a couple situations.
One thing I loved about this book is that whenever the author quotes Harriet, her natural dialect is written down. It's just a wonderful touch to be able to hear how Tubman talked so many years ago.
It's definitely worth the read, but it may not be easy or interesting enough for the average reader. Give it a try, though. You may enjoy!
There's another thing I hadn't expected; the book was written and published nearing the end of Tubman's life in order to raise money for her livelihood. So it's not your typical history book. The first-person narration is choppy and jumps around from different parts of Tubman's life as though you're sitting down for coffee with an old friend. It definitely takes some attention to detail and even some historical familiarity to truly enjoy this book. I had to Google a couple things here and there to fully understand a couple situations.
One thing I loved about this book is that whenever the author quotes Harriet, her natural dialect is written down. It's just a wonderful touch to be able to hear how Tubman talked so many years ago.
It's definitely worth the read, but it may not be easy or interesting enough for the average reader. Give it a try, though. You may enjoy!
informative
Intriguing only because of the time in which it wa written.
Originally published in 1869, the author, Sarah Bradford befriended Harriet in her later years and documented her life in Harriet's own words. What a valuable thing as without Ms. Bradford, we wouldn't have a true account of Harriet's heroism and the many quotes from her own lips (which are later used/referenced in almost every book written in Harriet). Ms. Bradford also used the profits from the sales of this book and its later publications to help Harriet financially in her old age.
This book was hard to follow though. The edition I have has no chapters (I know its a short book but its quite dense and chapters or breaks in the content would have helped) and Bradford shifts back and forth in the timeline and I often didn't know where I was. It was a struggle to finish and had it not been for the sheer historical significance of this book, I would have rated it a 2 star at most.
This book was hard to follow though. The edition I have has no chapters (I know its a short book but its quite dense and chapters or breaks in the content would have helped) and Bradford shifts back and forth in the timeline and I often didn't know where I was. It was a struggle to finish and had it not been for the sheer historical significance of this book, I would have rated it a 2 star at most.