By ones, twos, and threes, in the years before the Civil War thousands of enslaved people slipped through the night on their way to freedom, riding the Underground Railroad. Hidden and hunted, the escape of southern slaves to the North remains a compelling event in American history. Within the pages of this book are documented, in prose and elegantly articulate photographs, examples of "stations" on the Railroad, along with images of the routes, lives, and hardships of both the "passengers" and "conductors."

Includes essays by Larry Gara, Brenda E. Stevenson, and C. Peter Ripley.

An epic in United States history: Myth and reality / Larry Gara -- From Bondage to freedom: Slavery in America / Brenda E. Stevenson -- Underground Railroad / C. Peter Ripley -- Tracking the past.