Bound for Canaan Audiobook By Fergus Bordewich cover art

Bound for Canaan

The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad, America's First Civil Rights Movement

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Bound for Canaan

By: Fergus Bordewich
Narrated by: Peter J. Fernandez
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $31.49

Buy for $31.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

An important book of epic scope on America's first racially integrated, religiously inspired movement for change.

The Civil War brought to a climax the country's bitter division. But the beginnings of slavery's denouement can be traced to a courageous band of ordinary Americans, black and white, slave and free, who joined forces to create what would come to be known as the Underground Railroad, a movement that occupies as romantic a place in the nation's imagination as the Lewis and Clark expedition.

The true story of the Underground Railroad is much more morally complex and politically divisive than even the myths suggest. Against a backdrop of the country's westward expansion arose a fierce clash of values that was nothing less than a war for the country's soul. Not since the American Revolution had the country engaged in an act of such vast and profound civil disobedience that not only challenged prevailing mores but also subverted federal law.

Bound for Canaan tells the stories of men and women like David Ruggles, who invented the black underground in New York City; bold Quakers like Isaac Hopper and Levi Coffin, who risked their lives to build the Underground Railroad; and the inimitable Harriet Tubman. Interweaving thrilling personal stories with the politics of slavery and abolition, Bound for Canaan shows how the Underground Railroad gave birth to this country's first racially integrated, religiously inspired movement for social change.

©2009 Fergus Bordewich (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers
African American Studies Black & African American United States War Transportation New York Railroad American History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Bound for Canaan

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    61
  • 4 Stars
    18
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    56
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    60
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Heroic Missing Piece

The Underground Railroad is generally a few short paragraphs in high school history books and is thus generally overlooked as the first great instance of sustained collective civil disobedience in the history of the Republic. Fergus Bordewich gives these heroic participants names and stories,.telling a great national saga of men and women, black and white, putting themselves at grave risk with the goal of expanding the realm if human freedom by undermining, with the intent of destroying, human enslavement in the United States. A.brilliant story, brilliantly told.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Refreshing History of the Underground Railroad

This was a fascinating, well-written, well-performed history of the Underground Railroad. Thorough and in-depth.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very Informative

I really liked the author's unbiased reporting of the facts. I hope someday this information will become more widespread and maybe made into a documentary.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must read for every American

Compelling story telling and pacing along with excellent narration make for an engaging and enlightening listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Uncomfortably many parallels with today

It was great to learn about the history of abolition in much greater, and personal, detail. So many of the ways people defended keeping slaves parallels how people today are trying to hang on to our racist institutions. There is a lot to learn from self reflective reading of these stories.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!