History

In 1863, at the height of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass promised African Americans that serving in the military offered a sure path to freedom. More than 180,000 black men heeded his call to defend the Union, only to find that the path to equality...

In 1863, at the height of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass promised African Americans that serving in the military offered a sure path to freedom. Once a black man became a soldier, Douglass declared, "there is no power on earth or under the earth which...

Memphis is equal parts music and food--the products of a community marked with grit and resilience.The city's blues and soul music have lifted spirits, while barbecue has been a serious business ever since pork first entered the culin

WINNER OF THE PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZE 2018In the 1950s and 1960s, Memphis, Tennessee, was the launch pad of musical pioneers such as Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Al Green and Isaac Hayes, and by 1968 was a city synonymous with soul...

A "brassy yet deeply respectful book" (Publishers Weekly), this is a lively social history based on first-hand accounts of the legendary Hotel Theresa--one of the New York landmarks that established Harlem as a mecca of black culture. In mid-twentieth...

Masked Raiders follows the wild exploits of legendary brigands like the McKeone brothers and 'One Armed Jack' McLoughlin, who ravaged the subcontinent, from the mining towns of Barberton, Kimberley and Johannesburg, to the borders of Basotholand,...

Born in 1873 as the first free child in a family of former slaves, Mary McLeod Bethune would become an adviser to American presidents, an important civil rights leader, and founder of what is now Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida...

Martin Luther King left an indelible mark on 20th-century American history through his leadership of the non-violent civil rights campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s. The election of Barack Obama as America's first black president in November 2008 has...

This groundbreaking and highly acclaimed work examines the two most influential African-American leaders of this century. While Martin Luther King, Jr., saw America as essentially a dream . . . as yet unfulfilled, Malcolm X viewed America as a realized...

The compelling story of Marjorie, a courageous woman who sailed to South Africa with ten children during WWII. "[Marjorie's] life and her own words bring us intimately into a very special world, one that was initially dangerous for her and the children,...

Author Chief Henry E. Allen's experiences from the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement to the horror of the Vietnam War are recounted with a searing simplicity that gives the truth of each event its own booming voice. Filled with unbelievable moments...

It is a fact that Africa has been booty to the world. It is also easy for Africans and most commentators on African history to blame the continent's woes on outsiders-Western slave traders, colonial powers and neo-colonialists-without taking cognizance...

In the early hours of 22 November 1970, six Portuguese warships surrounded Conakry, the capital of the Republic of Guinea, on the West African coast. Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, a military force landed on the northern and southern...

Who was Mansa Musa? And why was he important?In the grand scheme of things, very little is known of Mansa Musa's life. We know that he was one of the greatest emperors of the Mali Empire. And we know that he was actually one of the richest men of all...

Mansa Musa I - Kankan Moussa: from Niani to Mecca vividly recounts, in an intense and almost cinematic manner, the unique story of the young West African ruler Mansa Musa I, the King of Mali, who ruled over a massive territory from 1312 - 1337. Mansa...

Fanny Howe's Manimal Woe maps the intersection between history and family as few books have. Through poetry, prose, and primary sources, Howe invites us on a journey with the spirit of her father, Civil Rights lawyer and professor Mark DeWolfe Howe, who...