The effects of slavery, the plight of the black people, and what should be done about it.

It is a lovely mix. There are intellectual critiques of other ideas (from Booker T. Washington for the most part), there are personal experiences and stories, and there are "sorrow songs." You not only get first-hand accounts of the injustices that plague the black people at this time, but you also get a very formal analytical evalutation of what has been said, what has been done, etc. It's a very nice mix.

Lobby my school board to get it put on the book list for all high school juniors/seniors. As I went to a school in the South, in a predominately white suburb, I think it would have been very beneficial to have more of my friends read it.

DuBois is a great writer! His essays are very formal but readable. You can understand his ideas easily. The stories and personal accounts are done in a different style which is even more moving. I read this book very quickly.




DuBois was a premier intellectual. He has been compared to numerous white authors and peers, but he truly stands out among all of them because of his unique style and devotion to his subject matter. Later in his life he renounced his American citizenship, moved to Ghana, and created the first Pan-African Congress, thus showing just how truly devoted he was to his cause.

The ideas are very compelling. For me it was the first piece of African-American literature I read, and so it was quite an eye-opener. It really provides a new perspective. If you have read Toni Morrison or Zora Neale Hurston, you will enjoy this book immensely. If you are interested in Reconstruction history, this is a great book which gives non-fiction accounts of the ex-slaves' world. If you are looking for something to read for Black History Month, I highly recommend it. If you are looking for a good read period, I highly recommend this. I consider this to be one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read.

This was part of an independent study project looking at the books of the late Victorian Period. Other authors in the project were Edith Wharton, Edward Bellamy, Upton Sinclair, Sinclair Lewis, Stephen Crane, and Kate Chopin. It seems that the turn of the century was a time when ideas were being tossed about and traded. I didn't enjoy all of these authors, but they tried their hardest to get their message across. None of them wrote strictly belles letters.

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Created Mar 10, 2002 at 8:29am • Submit your own review...