Rating: 
Summary: Tedious and Boring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: After seeing Catherine Clinton speak on BookTV, I immediately bought her book about the wonderful former slave heroine, Harriet Tubman. All of my life I've been a history buff, specifically American history, and even more specifically African-American history and African cultures. I am a teacher, have completed 6 years of college and two degrees, and have always been a voracious reader. But I was very disappointed in Ms. Clinton's book. Her subject was exciting and extraordinary, yet the writing lacked sparkle and suspense! (It definitely did not read like a novel as the historical writer Doris Kearns stated!) I assume the research was accurate, however the facts were linked one by one but often going into a detour so the reader easily got lost. Also, there was too much backgound information about people Harriet Tubman had befriended for life or had briefly met. And the reader again got lost reading more about people Harriet knew than Harriet herself! Alas, I was compelled to skip paragraphs and sometimes pages. However, I will keep this book with my reference materials if I need to check specific facts. When I was an elementary classroom teacher, I had to do whatever it took to keep my kids interested and excited about ALL SUBJECTS MOST OF THE TIME! I suggest to Ms. Clinton that she pretend her readers are 4th or 5th graders, so she can write clearly with sparkle and suspense, so everyone will enjoy reading her book. I would now like to encourage readers to read slave narratives written by former slaves as well as transcriptions of 1930's tape recordings of slaves. Also, read books by K.J. McWilliams such as The Journal of Leroy Jeremiah Jones, a Fugitive Slave (Alabama 1855) and The Journal of Darien Dexter Duff, an Emancipated Slave (Louisiana 1865). Those two fictional books were written at the time Harriet Tubman was living, and the author included historical facts and photos in the back of the book that weren't at all boring and that I have used in my classroom! Also, read other popular African-American historical fiction writers such as Walter Dean Myers. In my opinion nonfiction should also be a FUN read!
Rating: 
Summary: Just The Facts Ma'am!
Review: Catherine Clinton has done justice to a treasured historical figure whose life has often been confused with legend. Great writing and thoroughly researched. Accompanied by fine photos.
Rating:
Summary: Let Us Now Praise Famous Women
Review: Catherine Clinton has written a truly captivating and engaging biography of one of America's greatest heroes! Hooray! While I would love to add my review to the chorus, it seems that Publisher's Weekly, BookList, and Time Magazine--where I first read about the book have already given Clinton much praise for her stellar scholarship and meticulous evaluation of the sources. And while I certainly love a good debate, I must disagree with CreativeFolk; so the authors differ on a few points. I am just so happy that there is more to read! But instead of suggesting to you all another book on Harriet, I --like the author of the Time magazine article--see Clinton's book in a very fascinating dialogue with Jean Yellin's recently published biography of Harriet Jacobs. So, I recommend checking out both Harriet Tubman and Harriet Jacobs! James Hart
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful historical portrait!
Review: Catherine Clinton's biography of Harriet Tubman is a major addition to the American historical corpus. She has fully and magnificently brought to life for adults a woman who before now generally resided in children's books and half-remembered stories from elementary school. Harriet Tubman was an amazing woman and a pivotal figure in antebellum American history; Clinton has produced a biography worthy of its subject. It is eminently readable, well-researched, and deserves to stand alongside her other books, including her fascinating works on Fanny Kemble.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!!!!
Review: Catherine Clinton's Road to Freedom is a captivating, engaging, and beautifully written tribute to one of America's greatest heroes. I recommend this book most highly!
Rating:
Summary: Harriet Tubman-The Road to Freedom by Catherine Clinton
Review: Harriet Tubman lead an active life as a fugitive to the North,
a tireless champion for the rights of women and the leader of the
famous Underground Railroad utilized to transport slaves to the
free states. She was known to John Brown who referred to her
as General Tubman. She travelled from the slave states to the
northern states and into St. Catherine , Ontario -Canada. The
Clinton work shows memorable pictures of Harriet during the
Civil War. She gave important help to the Union during the war.
As a fugitive, she changed her name from Araminta to Harriet.
She was once named as property in a will because slaves were
considered inheritable. The book is written like a narrative
story with pictures of Harriet throughout. It is a good purchase
for serious students of America's struggle through a period of
slave ownership to freedom for all citizens. Harriet's work
also had important implications for the rights of all women
in the United States and even overseas.
Rating:
Summary: The Hidden Roads of History
Review: Many of us know Harriet Tubman from our elementary school days. Saving hundred of slaves, showing them their paths to life in Canada, risking her own life for that of others. She's a national heroine, and a national treasure, yet how many of us know anything about her? Catherine Clinton's book is an attempt to get closer to this intentionally illusive conductor, and she does it with grace and aplomb.
Drawing on as many resources as possible, Clinton pastes together a narrative of the life of this amazing woman. The task is formidable. The Underground Railroad, of which Tubman spent many years of her life serving, was one meant to be secretive. This secrecy ensured its survival, both of the people who worked in it, and those who survived because of it. Very few records exist, and Clinton finds as many as possible. Plus, as Tubman starts out as "property", her early existence wasn't notable enough to record. Clinton does a very credible job in building her narrative with little information.
As Tubman progresses into her most dangerous years, the tension rises. It's nearly impossible to separate the woman from the movement, and thus, talking about the mechanics of the Underground Railroad is helping us understand Tubman. As you read, how amazing this woman is comes clear: an illiterate, uneducated woman defying odds and leading people to freedom. It's compelling, and it's true.
Clinton thankfully doesn't draw out the end of Tubman's life, drawing her amazing experience to a close as she gracefully ages into her final years. Her message of reliance, and perserverence, is one to teach all of the children. Clinton claims at the end of her book a desire to "rescue" Tubman from elementary schools and introduce her to adults. That's great, but let's leave her in school too, to guide, inspire, and teach our children that one person truly does make a difference in so many lives.
Rating:
Summary: strong endearing biography
Review: THE ROAD TO FREEDOM is a superb account of the American "Black Moses", Harriet Tubman. The book actually opens with Ms. Tubman's last major public endeavor surprisingly (at least to this author) occurring in 1908 long after her famous role as an engineer of the Underground Railroad. The bio then shifts back to the early nineteenth century as Ms Tubman is born during ironically the "Era of Good Feeling" as a slave in Maryland. It follows her as she marries John Tubman, flees to Canada without him, joins John Brown, works as a Civil War nurse and spy, and of course the Underground Railroad.. Of interest is that Ms. Tubman not only advocated racial freedom, she championed women's suffrage. Ms. Tubman's salad days lack insightful personal information due to her slave status and a 1850s fire. Therefore Ms. Clinton provides a general look at conditions for slaves in Eastern Shore, Maryland. This generalization enables the audience to infer how Harriet probably lived in her early years. Deeper insight is provided to her middle and later years this is a suburb account that biography readers will appreciate because it is well written, easy to follow, and loaded with plenty on interesting detail about a genuine American hero. Though the author too easily accepts the "legendary" Tubman as gospel, HARRIET TUBMAN: THE ROAD TO FREEDOM is an endearing educational and entertaining book that history buffs and biography aficionados will enjoy. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: strong endearing biography
Review: THE ROAD TO FREEDOM is a superb account of the American "Black Moses", Harriet Tubman. The book actually opens with Ms. Tubman's last major public endeavor surprisingly (at least to this author) occurring in 1908 long after her famous role as an engineer of the Underground Railroad. The bio then shifts back to the early nineteenth century as Ms Tubman is born during ironically the "Era of Good Feeling" as a slave in Maryland. It follows her as she marries John Tubman, flees to Canada without him, joins John Brown, works as a Civil War nurse and spy, and of course the Underground Railroad.. Of interest is that Ms. Tubman not only advocated racial freedom, she championed women's suffrage. Ms. Tubman's salad days lack insightful personal information due to her slave status and a 1850s fire. Therefore Ms. Clinton provides a general look at conditions for slaves in Eastern Shore, Maryland. This generalization enables the audience to infer how Harriet probably lived in her early years. Deeper insight is provided to her middle and later years this is a suburb account that biography readers will appreciate because it is well written, easy to follow, and loaded with plenty on interesting detail about a genuine American hero. Though the author too easily accepts the "legendary" Tubman as gospel, HARRIET TUBMAN: THE ROAD TO FREEDOM is an endearing educational and entertaining book that history buffs and biography aficionados will enjoy. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Just The Facts Ma'am!
Review: This book is highly readable, and Clinton navigates smoothly through what is at times complex material. But I'm giving it 4 rather than 5 stars because it does not take advantage of the most current research in the field and at times, recycles myths which have been debunked...for example, the myth that there was a $40,000 bounty on Tubman's head. Still, it does update much of what we learned about Tubman in our children's books, so I can recommend it to general readers. But I feel academics will be better served by Kate Clifford Larson's HARRIET TUBMAN - BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND. Curator, AfroAmericanHeritage dot com
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