Flee North: Book Summary & Analysis

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Before the Civil War, before the name “Underground Railroad” echoed across history books, a courageous free Black man named Thomas Smallwood dared to write—and act—against slavery. Flee North tells the riveting, true story of how Smallwood risked everything to help enslaved families escape to freedom, while publicly mocking slaveholders in fiery, witty essays that inspired a nation and enraged the powerful.

Teaming up with Charles Torrey, a white abolitionist journalist, Smallwood built one of the first organized escape networks in America. Together, they liberated hundreds—while the nation watched, divided and trembling.