Publishers Weekly
★ 07/17/2023
Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Shane (Objective Troy) brings to vivid life the exploits of abolitionist Thomas Smallwood in this exhilarating account. Born into slavery in Maryland in 1801, Smallwood eventually bought his own freedom, established a shoemaking business in Washington, D.C., and at the age of 40 decided “to wage his own personal war on slavery,” orchestrating the escape of hundreds of enslaved African Americans to freedom in the North and Canada. He often personally led them, but also established, with the help of allies including white abolitionist Charles Torrey, the beginnings of the covert network known as the “underground railroad”—a phrase Smallwood himself coined. It originated as an imaginative joke—or “running gag,” as Shane calls it—that recurred in Smallwood’s many “laughingstock letters” to an abolitionist newspaper published in Albany, N.Y. For two years, from 1842 to 1843, the paper (where Torrey was editor) published these scathing and erudite dispatches from Washington, in which Smallwood (writing as “Samivel Weller, Jr.,” a reference to The Pickwick Papers) boasted about the success of the rescue missions while taunting and shaming the “bereft” slaveholders, many of whom were members of the federal government. As the police closed in, suspecting Smallwood of being the mysterious Weller, he had to make his own intrepid escape to Canada. This astonishing and propulsive narrative rights a historical wrong by returning Smallwood to prominence. It’s an absolute must-read. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
In his riveting new book, Scott Shane for the first time recounts the extraordinary story of Thomas Smallwood, a former slave who purchased his own freedom and worked as a shoemaker in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol. As a free man, Smallwood heroically led hundreds of enslaved people out of bondage, then mocked their former owners in sharply written dispatches in the abolitionist press. It was Smallwood, Shane argues convincingly, who had the distinction of naming the 'underground railroad.' Flee North restores to American history one of the most daring African American abolitionists, author of a long-neglected slave narrative, who not only courageously fought slavery but brilliantly satirized it.”
—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University
"This book is a treasure. Weaving together three unforgettable characters, Scott Shane transforms the origins of the underground railroad from a romantic nickname into full-scale human drama of tears, triumph, and laughter."
—Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63
“Scott Shane has unearthed an extraordinary tale. His fast-paced story is not just inspiring, but also offers the satisfying spectacle of seeing exasperated slaveholders who had lost their human property get publicly taunted by one of the brave pair who helped smuggle these men, women, and children to freedom.”
—Adam Hochschild, award-winning historian and author of American Midnight and many other books
"The tremendous achievements of the man who coined the term 'underground railroad' are given their full due in the former New York Times journalist Scott Shane’s Flee North."
—The New York Times
"Written in an engaging, dynamic style, Flee North will captivate readers who want to know how people like Smallwood succeeded in duping countless enslavers. The fascinating tale of a swashbuckling abolitionist and his white activist companion will make readers wish for a film adaptation. This book is a tale of triumph in the face of unspeakable adversity. Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries."
—Booklist, STARRED Review
"A forgotten chapter in abolitionist history is restored to history in a lively, readable narrative."
—Kirkus
"Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Shane (Objective Troy) brings to vivid life the exploits of abolitionist Thomas Smallwood in this exhilarating account. [...] This astonishing and propulsive narrative rights a historical wrong by returning Smallwood to prominence. It’s an absolute must-read."
—Publishers Weekly, STARRED Review
“Flee North, a gripping story told at a brisk pace in the no-fuss prose of a practiced reporter, is a model of the advantages that journalists can bring to the writing of history… [It] is the kind of story we sorely need at a time when there is no shortage of opportunities for inspiring acts of heroism.”
—The Washington Post
"'Flee North' stands on its own...as both a thrilling portrait of the underground in action and as an inspiring demonstration of the extraordinary personal courage and sacrifice that activists demanded of themselves at a time when slavery’s defenders dominated the national government and cynical businessmen like Slatter built mansions on profits derived from selling their fellow human beings."
—The Wall Street Journal
Library Journal
★ 09/01/2023
Pulitzer Prize—winning reporter Shane (Objective Troy) has deftly woven this historical account about Thomas Smallwood, born in enslavement but who bought his freedom and became a contributor in the success of the Underground Railroad. Smallwood, who ran a small shoemaking establishment (circa 1840s) within sight of the White House, helped freedom seekers in Baltimore and Washington, DC. He recruited Charles T. Torrey, a young, white activist/minister/journalist, to help him. Torrey wrote satirical newspaper columns that documented their efforts and mocked enslavers, traders, and people who thought it their right to keep people enslaved. Smallwood and Torrey's partnership forms the basis of this book and serves as a wonderful introduction for readers unaware of all that went on before the Civil War. VERDICT An exceptionally well-written book that takes readers into the life and political development of Smallwood. General readers and all types of libraries will need to add this book to their to-be-read lists and collections.—Amy Lewontin
Kirkus Reviews
2023-06-29
A rich history of two men who were active in helping enslaved people escape to Canada in the years before the Civil War.
After buying his freedom, Thomas Smallwood (1801-1883) was a shoemaker who worked out of Washington and Baltimore “engineering escapes from bondage on an unprecedented scale.” As Shane’s narrative opens, Smallwood loads 15 enslaved people into a wagon and takes to the rutted highway north, managing to evade the white slave patrollers in pursuit. In alliance with Smallwood was a New England abolitionist named Charles Torrey, who was just as daring and who shared Smallwood’s penchant for sending mocking letters to slaveholders after their “chattels” were safely delivered to Canada. Smallwood eventually racked up enough enemies that he had to remain in Canada, where he had a “new house in the very center of Toronto.” He also claimed, with reason, to have been the first to organize these mass escapes of enslaved people, calling himself “general agent of all the branches of the National Underground Railroad, Steam Packet, Canal and Foot-it Company.” (The “underground railway” moniker, Shane reminds readers, derived from the fact that the escapees disappeared so quickly and completely that is was as if they had boarded a hidden, fast train.) Alas, even in the abolitionist business, the erasure of Black participants is evident: Torrey made the same claim, and the history books remember him as a hero who died of tuberculosis while imprisoned after having finally been caught. Both Smallwood and Torrey merit remembrance and honor, for what they did was at the risk of their lives. Along the way, readers will find satisfying the demise of one of their chief tormentors, killed by yellow fever, which ironically “had first traveled to the New World aboard the slave ships from Africa.”
A forgotten chapter in abolitionist history is restored to history in a lively, readable narrative.
