Passages to Freedom
The Underground Railroad in History and Memory
Few things have defined America as much as slavery. In the wake of emancipation the story of the Underground Railroad has become a seemingly irresistible part of American historical consciousness. This stirring drama is one Americans have needed to tell and retell and pass onto their children. But just how much of the Underground Railroad is real, how much legend and mythology, how much invention? *Passages to Freedom* sets out to answer this question and place it within the context of slavery, emancipation, and its aftermath.