Universally recognized today as one of the most important and influential Americans of the nineteenth century, Frederick Douglass rose to prominence in the national abolitionist movement before and during the Civil War by virtue of the vividness and power with which, drawing on his personal experiences of enslavement and freedom, he spoke and wrote against American slaveryтАФand he continued to propound his vision of an America that would afford freedom, equality, and opportunity to all long after slavery was formally abolished. This edition offers a selection of DouglassтАЩs most significant writing and oratory from throughout his long career, including the complete texts of┬аNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, which has become a classic example of the slave narrative genre, and┬аThe Heroic Slave, DouglassтАЩs only published work of fiction, together with excerpts from DouglassтАЩs other autobiographical writings and key speeches he gave both before and after the Civil War. The edition also provides clear and thorough annotations for the assistance of the student reader and a range of contextual materials, including responses to DouglassтАЩs┬аNarrative┬аand photographs of Douglass. As an introduction to DouglassтАЩs life and work that balances breadth and concision, this edition is well suited for a variety of undergraduate courses in American history and literary studies.