William Brown escaped from slavery as a child. Brown was still considered a slave at the time of this novel's publication. Brown was a pioneer in several different literary genres, including travel and fiction. Three Years in Europe: Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met begins with a detailed autobiography of the author. Three Years in Europe is the first travel book written by a fugitive slave. The letters in this book were originally written to friends. An excerpt reads, "I waited nearly three hours before my name was called, and when it was, I unlocked my trunks and handed them over to one of the officers, whose dirty hands made no improvement on the work of the laundress. First one article was taken out, and then another, till an Iron Collar that had been worn by a female slave on the banks of the Mississippi, was hauled out, and this democratic instrument of torture became the centre of attraction; so much so, that instead of going on with the examination, all hands stopped to look at the "Negro Collar."