The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano (Or Gustavus Vassa, The African), first published in 1789, is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. The book describes Equiano's time spent in slavery, and documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual conversion to Christianity. Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African involved in the British movement for the abolition of the slave trade. He was enslaved as a child, purchased his freedom, and worked as an author, merchant, and explorer in South America, the Caribbean, the Arctic, the American colonies, and the United Kingdom, where he settled by 1792. His autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, depicts the horrors of slavery and influenced the enactment of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.