Argues that Black literature cannot be characterized strictly as social realism, and offers a textual analysis of works by eighteenth- to twentieth-century Blac

"The originality, brilliance, and scope of the work is remarkable.... Gates will instruct, delight, and stimulate a broad range of readers, both those who are a

Chronicles five hundred years of African-American history from the origins of slavery on the African continent through Barack Obama's second presidential term,

In a coming-of-age story as enchantingly vivid and ribald as anything Mark Twain or Zora Neale Hurston, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., recounts his childhood in the mi

An immensely persuasive work of literary criticism that opens a new chapter in the American dialogue on race—and promises to change the way we read American l