Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Sufferings in Africa

The Astonishing Account of a New England Sea Captain Enslaved by North African Arabs

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

In this classic true adventure story, a young American sea captain named James Riley, shipwrecked off the western coast of North Africa in 1815, is captured by a band of nomadic Arabs and sold into slavery. Thus begins an epic adventure of survival and a quest for freedom that takes him across the Sahara desert.

This dramatic account of Captain Riley's trials and sufferings sold more than one million copies in his day and was even read by a young and impressionable Abraham Lincoln. The degradations of a slave existence and the courage to survive under the most harrowing conditions have rarely been recorded with such painful honesty.

Sufferings in Africa is a classic travel-adventure narrative and a fascinating testament of white Americans enslaved abroad, during a time when slavery flourished throughout the United States.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Levels

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Writing just after the War of 1812, an American sea captain recounts his shipwreck and the subsequent enslavement of his crew by East African nomads. Riley's tales of cruel treatment in unknown lands, written in the eloquent language of the day, sold a million copies. Reader Brian Emerson (aka Jonathan Marosz) is monotonous and cool, punctuating sentences by prolonging the last word and dropping his voice. The didactic, well-pronounced delivery at first makes the history seem plausible. But as the story proceeds to melodramatics--survival by drinking camel urine, for example--the listener begins to suspect that the captain's heroics may have impaired the accuracy of his memory while, at the same time, fertilizing his imagination. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Text Difficulty:9-12

Loading