Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa, is probably the most famous 18th-century British writer of African heritage. His autobiography tells of his early life in what is now Nigeria, his kidnapping and traumatic transportation to the Americas and his experiences of enslavement and regaining freedom. Equiano became an abolitionist and a businessman, and applied both these skills to his book, publicising it with flair and using book promotion events to call for an end to the slave trade.
