The Man Who Stole Himself

The Man Who Stole Himself PDF Author: Gisli Palsson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022631331X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
The island nation of Iceland is known for many things—majestic landscapes, volcanic eruptions, distinctive seafood—but racial diversity is not one of them. So the little-known story of Hans Jonathan, a free black man who lived and raised a family in early nineteenth-century Iceland, is improbable and compelling, the stuff of novels. In The Man Who Stole Himself, Gisli Palsson lays out the story of Hans Jonathan (also known as Hans Jónatan) in stunning detail. Born into slavery in St. Croix in 1784, Hans was taken as a slave to Denmark, where he eventually enlisted in the navy and fought on behalf of the country in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen. After the war, he declared himself a free man, believing that he was due freedom not only because of his patriotic service, but because while slavery remained legal in the colonies, it was outlawed in Denmark itself. He thus became the subject of one of the most notorious slavery cases in European history, which he lost. Then Hans ran away—never to be heard from in Denmark again, his fate unknown for more than two hundred years. It’s now known that Hans fled to Iceland, where he became a merchant and peasant farmer, married, and raised two children. Today, he has become something of an Icelandic icon, claimed as a proud and daring ancestor both there and among his descendants in America. The Man Who Stole Himself brilliantly intertwines Hans Jonathan’s adventurous travels with a portrait of the Danish slave trade, legal arguments over slavery, and the state of nineteenth-century race relations in the Northern Atlantic world. Throughout the book, Palsson traces themes of imperial dreams, colonialism, human rights, and globalization, which all come together in the life of a single, remarkable man. Hans literally led a life like no other. His is the story of a man who had the temerity—the courage—to steal himself.

The Man Who Stole Himself

The Man Who Stole Himself PDF Author: Gisli Palsson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022631328X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Prologue: a man of many worlds -- The island of St. Croix -- "A house negro"--"The mulatto Hans Jonathan" -- "Said to be the secretary" -- Among the sugar barons -- Copenhagen -- A child near the royal palace -- "He wanted to go to war" -- The general's widow v. the mulatto -- The verdict -- Iceland -- A free man -- Mountain guide -- Factor, farmer, father -- Farewell -- Descendants -- The Jonathan family -- The Eirikssons of New England -- Who stole whom? -- The lessons of history -- Epilogue: biographies

The Man Who Stole Himself

The Man Who Stole Himself PDF Author: Gisli Palsson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022631331X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 311

Get Book Here

Book Description
The island nation of Iceland is known for many things—majestic landscapes, volcanic eruptions, distinctive seafood—but racial diversity is not one of them. So the little-known story of Hans Jonathan, a free black man who lived and raised a family in early nineteenth-century Iceland, is improbable and compelling, the stuff of novels. In The Man Who Stole Himself, Gisli Palsson lays out the story of Hans Jonathan (also known as Hans Jónatan) in stunning detail. Born into slavery in St. Croix in 1784, Hans was taken as a slave to Denmark, where he eventually enlisted in the navy and fought on behalf of the country in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen. After the war, he declared himself a free man, believing that he was due freedom not only because of his patriotic service, but because while slavery remained legal in the colonies, it was outlawed in Denmark itself. He thus became the subject of one of the most notorious slavery cases in European history, which he lost. Then Hans ran away—never to be heard from in Denmark again, his fate unknown for more than two hundred years. It’s now known that Hans fled to Iceland, where he became a merchant and peasant farmer, married, and raised two children. Today, he has become something of an Icelandic icon, claimed as a proud and daring ancestor both there and among his descendants in America. The Man Who Stole Himself brilliantly intertwines Hans Jonathan’s adventurous travels with a portrait of the Danish slave trade, legal arguments over slavery, and the state of nineteenth-century race relations in the Northern Atlantic world. Throughout the book, Palsson traces themes of imperial dreams, colonialism, human rights, and globalization, which all come together in the life of a single, remarkable man. Hans literally led a life like no other. His is the story of a man who had the temerity—the courage—to steal himself.

The Man Who Stole Himself: A Novel of the Civil War

The Man Who Stole Himself: A Novel of the Civil War PDF Author: Thomas Thibeault
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780983661832
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
A slave steals a gunboat and escapes with his entire family. Robert Smalls boarded the Confederate gunboat Planter and steamed her under the guns of Fort Sumter to the blockading Union Navy and to freedom. Robert was a slave and he surrendered to Admiral Francis Du Pont, one of the wealthiest men in the country. Robert and Du Pont created a friendship of equality that destroyed the barriers of race, wealth, and class. When he escaped with the Planter, Robert became The Man Who Stole Himself.

The King of Confidence

The King of Confidence PDF Author: Miles Harvey
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316463582
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
The "unputdownable" (Dave Eggers, National Book award finalist) story of the most infamous American con man you've never heard of: James Strang, self-proclaimed divine king of earth, heaven, and an island in Lake Michigan, "perfect for fans of The Devil in the White City" (Kirkus) A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Longlisted for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist for the Midland Authors Annual Literary Award A Michigan Notable Book A CrimeReads Best True Crime Book of the Year "A masterpiece." —Nathaniel Philbrick In the summer of 1843, James Strang, a charismatic young lawyer and avowed atheist, vanished from a rural town in New York. Months later he reappeared on the Midwestern frontier and converted to a burgeoning religious movement known as Mormonism. In the wake of the murder of the sect's leader, Joseph Smith, Strang unveiled a letter purportedly from the prophet naming him successor, and persuaded hundreds of fellow converts to follow him to an island in Lake Michigan, where he declared himself a divine king. From this stronghold he controlled a fourth of the state of Michigan, establishing a pirate colony where he practiced plural marriage and perpetrated thefts, corruption, and frauds of all kinds. Eventually, having run afoul of powerful enemies, including the American president, Strang was assassinated, an event that was frontpage news across the country. The King of Confidence tells this fascinating but largely forgotten story. Centering his narrative on this charlatan's turbulent twelve years in power, Miles Harvey gets to the root of a timeless American original: the Confidence Man. Full of adventure, bad behavior, and insight into a crucial period of antebellum history, The King of Confidence brings us a compulsively readable account of one of the country's boldest con men and the boisterous era that allowed him to thrive.

Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself

Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself PDF Author: John Ernest
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807888850
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
It is the most celebrated escape in the history of American slavery. Henry Brown had himself sealed in a three-foot-by-two-foot box and shipped from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia, a twenty-seven-hour journey to freedom. In Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself, Brown not only tells the story of his famed escape, but also recounts his later life as a black man making his way through white American and British culture. Most important, he paints a revealing portrait of the reality of slavery, of the wife and children sold away from him, the home to which he could not return, and his rejection of the slaveholders' religion--painful episodes that fueled his desire for freedom. This edition comprises the most complete and faithful representation of Brown's life, fully annotated for the first time. John Ernest also provides an insightful introduction that places Brown's life in its historical setting and illuminates the challenges Brown faced in an often threatening world, both before and after his legendary escape.

The Desperado who Stole Baseball

The Desperado who Stole Baseball PDF Author: John H. Ritter
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780399246647
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
In 1881, the scrappy, rough-and-tumble baseball team in a California mining town enlists the help of a quick-witted twelve-year-old orphan and the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid to win a big game against the National League Champion Chicago White Stockings. Prequel to: The boy who saved baseball.

The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa

The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa PDF Author: Robert Noah
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1466877537
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
The Marquis de Valfierno spent his life preparing to become the man who stole the Mona Lisa. We are introduced to him in Buenos Aires, where the criminal mastermind with exquisite taste in art and women has built a highly profitable business selling fake religious masterpieces to grieving widows. A botched love affair forces him to head for Mexico City, where he discovers new ventures and greater profits for his art. In Mexico, he begins to assemble the team that will move with him to Paris. He enlists such talents as those of Yves Chaudron, a master painter without a touch of creative instinct; young Miguel, a crippled street urchin; and Mme Renard, a savvy woman of many faces. Valfierno will move his team to the scene of the crime, Paris. There he is tempted by nothing more than the imminent theft of the world's most celebrated painting. He could not have anticipated that this theft would be but the beginning. The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa is a beautifully written blend of mystery and history. Robert Noah artfully guides his readers through the turns of an intrigue-filled and delicious story.

Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave

Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave PDF Author: William W. Brown
Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.
ISBN: 1602067368
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
In this autobiography, published in 1847, William Wells Brown details his life of slavery in Missouri. He describes in horrid detail the punishments and tortures doled out on a daily basis on the farm where he was kept captive. Brown's journey through various owners took him from the farm to the steamboat, where he participated in the slave trade itself, ferrying humans like cattle to the slave market in New Orleans. Eventually, he made his way to freedom, with the help of Wells Brown, whose name he later took. Students of history and anyone interested in true-life adventures will get caught up in Brown's moving account from one of the most troubling times in American history. Born into slavery, American author WILLIAM WELLS BROWN (1814-1884) escaped to the North where he became a prominent abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. His novel, Clotel: or, The President's Daughter, is considered by historians to be the first novel written by an African American. His other works include The Negro in the American Rebellion and The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom.

The Man Who Stole the Atlantic Ocean

The Man Who Stole the Atlantic Ocean PDF Author: Louis Phillips
Publisher: Avon Books
ISBN: 9780380007660
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
When the Atlantic Ocean disappears, only six-year-old Harry Frogfoot III can get it back.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales PDF Author: Oliver Sacks
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0684853949
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Explores neurological disorders and their effects upon the minds and lives of those affected with an entertaining voice.