Olaudah Equiano was an African writer and abolitionist whose experiences as a slave prompted him to become involved in the British antislavery movement. Born in the area that is now southern Nigeria, he was kidnapped with his sister at around the age of 11, sold by local slave traders and shipped across the Atlantic. After buying his freedom, Equiano worked as an explorer and merchant for 20 years, and eventually settled in England. He published his memoirs in 1789.

Michael Taylor is an historian of colonial slavery, the British Empire and the British Isles. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at the British Library's Eccles Centre for American Studies.

Tom Butler-Bowdon is Series Editor of the Capstone Classics series, and has provided Introductions for Plato's Republic, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Machiavelli's The Prince, Florence Scovel Shinn's The Game of Life and How to Play It, and Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. A graduate of the London School of Economics, he is also the author of 50 Economics Classics (2017) and 50 Politics Classics (2015).

www.butler-bowdon.com