Summerization (Book Review Sample)

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Prince Among Slaves
Prince Among Slaves is a remarkable publication written and produced by Telly Alford in 1977. This is a story of Abdul Rahman who was captured in 1978 and transported from West Africa and sold to a farmer in Natchez, Mississippi. Abdul Rahman told the farmer that he was an African prince and that his father would give the farmer gold if he agreed to return him to Africa. The farmer however refused and Rahman never returned home for forty years. He returned back home after spending 40 years in slavery only to die that same year.[Alford, Terry. Prince Among Slaves. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977. Print.]
The thesis of the author is to bring into light larger historical events not included in the early history of America by giving the biography of Abdul Rahman who showed forbearance and maintained his dignity and religious values despite going through a lot of hardships.
The story also gives insight on the developments of global events such as slave trade and its impact on people involved from across the globe. Finally, the documentary helps the reader to understand on some important historical issues such as intercontinental slave trade and how it helped to shape the American South’s economy but also contributing to the development of states that were Muslim reformist in West Africa in the eighteenth century.[Perry, Anne, and Simon Jones. Slaves of Obsession. Prince Frederick, MD: Distributed by] Recorded Books, 2000. Sound recording.]
The author conveys his points by first describing his thesis in the introduction and then expounding on that thesis in the subsequent chapters. The author describes his main character Abdul Rahman in the first pages and then goes ahead to analyse the development of his character on the book. Alford constructs the identity of Abdul Rahman and tells his story in relation to Isabella to demonstrate that even slaves raised families despite distinct personal backgrounds. The author portrays a positive development of his writing because he is able to provide a comprehensive narration where his main objective proving his thesis is achieved.[Matthew Borlik, Washington City Paper, November 30, 2007.]
The author offers significant evidence of his research by citing on documents that are direct manuscript of the life of Abdu-l-Rahman Ibrahim in the late 1700s. An example is a letter written by Abdu-l-Rahman where he wrote the Surat al-Fatiha. The letter is still available to date in USA’s Library of Congress. Terry Alford compiled his story from numerous evidence based materials. Alford writes his documentary, "Prince Ibrahima, an Islamic prince who was sold as a slave 15 years ago…." Which is among documents published by Henry Clay in 1829. Henry Clay’s historical publication is an example of an evidenced based that Alford refers.[Laura Harbold, NEH Humanities Magazine, Abdul-Rahman Prince Among Slaves, September/October 2006.] [Alford, Terry, and Mos Def. Prince Among Slaves. s.l: Unity Productions Foundation, 2008.]
The main character is Abdu-l-Rahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori a.k.a. Abdul-Rahman whom story is the subject of the publication. The other Main characters includes Foster and Isabella. Thomas Foster, was a Mississippi cotton and tobacco farmer whom bought Rahman and became his master. Isabella was a woman born in United States and bought by Foster as a slave whom became the wife of Abdul Rahman and together they had 9 children. These three are the main characters because they represents the theme for which the author writes about.[Katie Stallcup, Life of African Prince Leads Filmmakers to Natchez, The Natchez Democrat, October 1.,2006]
The main character Abdul Rahman played an important role of a father and husband even though he was a slave. Rahman was an African slave who portrays a man who maintained his religious values despite the many challenges that he went through. The historical events narrated in this book happened between 1788 when Rahman was captured and taken as a slave at the age of twenty six years and 1829 the year that returned to Africa which also is the year he died.[Horton, James O, and Lois E. Horton. In Hope of Liberty: Culture, Community, and Protest Among Northern Free Blacks, 1700-1860. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print.]
The results of these historical events were that Abdul al-Rahman’s a prince of a Futa Jallon kingdom in West Africa was sold to slavery in plantations of Mississippi in 1788 to a farmer named Thomas Foster. Abdul-Rahman served Foster until he encountered with Dr. John Cox. The results was that Dr. Cox offered to buy Abdul-Rahman from Thomas Foster, but Foster refused to sell Rahman.
This encounter impacted on the life of Abdul-Rahman because 20 years later it was the son of Cox in corroboration with a local newspaper editor named Marschalk who wrote a story about Abdul-Rahman’s case. The Articles made Henry Clay who was the then Secretary of State convince President John Adams Quincy to free Abdul-Rahman. Although the president eventually declined, the influence of the government made Foster to release Rahman which set out a cause for his return to Africa.[Kalin, Andrea, Bill Duke, John Rhode, David Gr...