Hiding by day, running by night, living off prayers and will power, thousands of slaves had to risk all they had in order to achieve what others are given at birth—freedom. Sometimes called "the Father of the Underground Railroad," William Still (1821-1902) assembled this remarkable anthology of narratives and letters by enslaved people who attempted to escape bondage, as well as accounts by the abolitionists and conductors who aided them. The result is an immersive look at the horrors of slavery but also the heroic efforts made to end it.