This is the real story behind the movie. This book was produced in the same Louisiana town that freed Solomon Northup 160 years ago. It was edited, notes researched and updated with more 19th century photos in an office on Main Street in Marksville, the road which carried Solomon both to slavery and to freedom at the Avoyelles Courthouse just a block away. Solomon's important story had an influence on this nation before the Civil War, and it continues to do so today. On the 160th anniversary of regaining Solomon's freedom in Marksville on January 4, 1843, the publishers wanted to put a face to many of the names who were in Northup's life. Thus this illustrated edition of the free New York man who was kidnapped into slavery in Louisiana for twelve years.