A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY A New York Times
bestseller the incredible true story of a couple that escaped slavery in the South and
eventually made their way to the UK Africa and beyond. The remarkable true story of Ellen and
William Craft who escaped slavery through daring determination and disguise with Ellen
passing as a wealthy disabled White man and William posing as his slave. In 1848 a year of
international democratic revolt a young enslaved couple Ellen and William Craft achieved
one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in history. Posing as master and slave while
sustained by their love as husband and wife they made their escape together across more than 1
000 miles riding steamboats carriages and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to
the free states of the North. Along the way they dodged slave traders military officers and
even friends of their enslavers who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of
their adventure soon made them celebrities and generated headlines around the country.
Audiences could not get enough of this charismatic young couple who travelled the country
drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionists of the
day. But even then they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive
Slave Act in 1850 all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to
slavery. Then yet another adventure began as the Crafts fled to England to embark upon a new
life. With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom Master Slave
Husband Wife recounts both a ground-breaking quest for liberty and justice and an
unforgettable love story.
