Bound for Canaan

“Well written, moving . . . stimulating,” this account of racially unified abolitionism “could provide the occasion for a constructive national conversation” (New York Times).

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 a romantic a place in the nation's imagination. 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 who risked their lives to build the Underground Railroad. 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.

“Utterly compelling.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“[An] engrossing account.” —The New Yorker

“Blending historical imagination with a novelist's sense of character, Bordewich...brings to life . . . Americans who defied popular opinion and the authority of the federal government to combat . . . a fundamental moral evil.” —Washington Post

“Excellent . . . as close to a definitive history as we’re likely to see.” —Wall Street Journal

“A profoundly American tale.” —USA Today