UNI English Professor Dr. Jeffrey Copeland’s 25th book, “Ain’t No Harm to Kill the Devil: the Life and Legend of John Fairfield, Abolitionist for Hire” came out on Sept. 15 and was met with overwhelming success.

In Copeland’s newest literary non-fiction book, he tracks the chronicles of John Fairfield, a James Bond meets Robin Hood-like character in American history and presents his journeys just in time for the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. 

John Fairfield was an abolitionist who would roam from town to town disguising himself as members of the general public by acquiring normal jobs such as a dentist, undertaker, or land surveyor while at the same time locating the positions of the slaves that were in the town. 

Once Fairfield was accepted with confidence by the town members, he would steal slave owners’ slaves, money and jewelry and transport the slaves through Ohio and into Canada using the Underground Railroad. 

Fairfield was not a typical abolitionist; his peers considered him to be a rogue who was only in it for the money. However, Fairfield only took his payment in order to reimburse his ever-expanding ruses and disguises allowing for his methods to continue in both size and success.  

Originally, Copeland planned to write a book about Levi Coffin, the president of the Underground Railroad.

“The fact was, Levi Coffin was a great man but was dull as dirt,” Copeland said. When he found Coffin referencing Fairfield, he began to write Fairfield’s story. 

“I got lucky, incredibly lucky,” Copeland said, “I didn’t write this book knowing that the 150th anniversary to the end of the war was coming up, it just worked that way.” 

The timing of the release resulted in many book clubs, re-enactment groups and historical societies all over the world pre-ordering his book, sending sales to levels that Copeland has never seen before. 

“The reviews that have come out have been beyond my wildest dreams,” Copeland said. “I had a great time writing this book and I guess it shows.”

Copeland took a year to perform his background research, which included talking with a Hollywood producer, receiving a drawing from a forensic artist and re-creating one of the journeys that Fairfield made from Kentucky to Ohio which is featured in his e-book, ‘Finding Fairfield.’

In ‘Finding Fairfield,’ Copeland goes into detail about his journey while writing his book, including the people that he met, the ghost that he encountered and how the art of literary non-fiction helps bring history back to life.

“Anyone can look up what happened,” Copeland said. “I want to show the readers why it happened and why they did it.” 

With the excellent timing and reviews, the first run of his book is nearly sold out. This level of success is new for Copeland even after becoming a best-selling author worldwide with his previous novel ‘Shell Games.’ 

From now until next May, Copeland will be traveling all over the world attending book events and signings for his work, which can be picked up online, or in any major book-retail store.