Ira Aldridge: Famous Speeches by Martin Hoyles

I have been studying and teaching for many years, but I knew little about 19th century black actor Ira Aldridge. Having read this book, I now realise I had a gap in my understanding of just how influential and great he was, and I also realise that I have been doing a disservice by not making my students more aware.

By 1824, aged just 17, Ira Aldridge had run away from his home in New York, stowed-away to cross the Atlantic, nearly been sold into slavery, arrived in England and within months was playing Othello on stage. By the time he died in 1867, he was the most famous actor in Europe. He led an eventful and influential life and this book, a follow up to Martin Hoyles's biography of Aldridge, aims to bring a greater awareness of all that Aldridge did both for acting and in challenging racially biased assumptions and politics during the 19th century.