The Narrative of Robert Adams, a Barbary Captive

A Critical Edition

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by Robert Adams and Charles Hansford Adams

Cambridge University Press

Due/Published October 2005, 225 pages, paper

ISBN 0521603730

Originally published in London in 1816, The Narrative of Robert Adams is an account of the adventures of an African American seaman who survives shipwreck, slavery, and brutal efforts to convert him to Islam, before being ransomed to the British consul. Robert Adams's story is accompanied by contemporary essays and notes ranking his experience in the context of African exploration at the time. The book's introduction examines Adams's contemporary credibility in relation to literary genres of the slave narrative and the Barbary Captivity narrative.