[B]inary opposites fit nicely the formulation of history as written, but they do little to capture the messy, inchoate reality of history as lived.

[B]inary opposites fit nicely the formulation of history as written, but they do little to capture the messy, inchoate reality of history as lived.

For sheer drama, few accounts of slavery match Solomon Northup's tale of abduction from freedom and forcible enslavement.