The minute I opened Linda Barrett Osborne’s latest book, Traveling the Freedom Road:  From Slavery & the Civil War Through Reconstruction, I was in heaven.

Not only is this book a breath-taking accomplishment in visual publishing, it is everything a historian could ask for in a history book.  Traveling the Freedom Road recreates historical documents from precious Library of Congress archives, and places them side-by-side with the spirited interviews of former slaves who lived to talk about their lives of bondage.  It also blends period photographs and illustrations with Barrett’s own insightful prose to describe the harsh realities of early African American life. 

This is a timely book that addresses a well-known subject from a unique angle, emphasizing materials written by, for and about young African Americans who yearned to walk that freedom road. 

Part reference book and part biography, Traveling the Freedom Road is a “must have” for teachers, historians and lovers of African American history everywhere.

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