This is a very challenging and rewarding book. In this day of political correctness, all too often we do not want to acknowledge this contradiction in the formation of our nation. This book is the product of a government project to preserve first-hand accounts of slavery before the last surviving slaves died in the 1940s. As terrible as these accounts are the book acknowledges that many personal accounts were toned down so as not to offend. The resiliant spirit and courage of these slaves who are now free will both encourage and at the same time make you angry. It is encouraging because in spite of the horrific lives of many of the former slaves they were unwilling to allow this to destroy them. At the same time this is maddening as we consider how many intelligent and talented men and women were enslaved with many also being abused or even killed all for the greed and profit of some.Some of the accounts have been challenged because they are personal accounts based totally on the memories of the now freed men and women with little or no collaboration. However this is also what makes these accounts so valuable. This is their story about their life and what they endured. No amount of legal documents can relate how this affected these courageous men and women