General History

Men and women who carried the mantle of African healing and spirituality in the Mid-South were frequently accused and attacked for their misunderstood culture. The same healers and spiritual workers feared by outsiders were embraced and revered by familie

Pepper Town, Methodist Town, the Gas Plant district and the 22nd Street South community--these once segregated neighborhoods were built by African Americans in the face of injustice. The resilient people who lived in these neighbourhoods established stron

The image of a scorpion surrounded by a ring of fire, stinging itself to death, was widespread among antislavery leaders before the Civil War. It captures their long-standing strategy for peaceful abolition: they would surround the slave states with a...

The authorities in power in England during Thomas Paine's lifetime saw him as an agent provocateur who used his seditious eloquence to support the emancipation of slaves and women, the demands of working people, and the rebels of the French and American...

In a detailed look at the history of Richmond, Benjamin Campbell examines the contradictions and crises that have formed the city over more than four centuries. Campbell argues that the community of metropolitan Richmond is engaged in a decisive...

A narrative history of America's deadliest episode of race riots and lynchings After World War I, black Americans fervently hoped for a new epoch of peace, prosperity, and equality. Black soldiers believed their participation in the fight to make the...

"In the company of a brave and determined young woman, Radical Spirits takes us to the fraught social and religious frontier between two cultures, India and America in the late 1800s. The journey makes for a captivating story, every page granting...

A lush, modern vegetarian cookbook celebrating the bold flavors and unique ingredients of the Caribbean In Provisions, Michelle and Suzanne Rousseau share 150 recipes that pay homage to the meals and market produce that have been farmed, sold, and...

In Parting the Waters, the first volume of his essential America in the King Years series, Pulitzer Prize winner Taylor Branch gives a "compelling...masterfully told" (The Wall Street Journal) account of Martin Luther King's early years and rise to...

This exploration of the effects of lynching in the U.S. speaks powerfully to us in these times that have witnessed the creation of the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Nearly five thousand black Americans were lynched...

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE WINNER - NATIONAL BESTSELLER - An extraordinary look at privilege, discrimination, and the fallacy of post-racial America by the renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning cultural critic Jefferson takes us into an insular and...

Chronicling the underappreciated black tradition of bearing arms for self-defense, this book presents an array of examples reaching back to the pre-Civil War era that demonstrate a willingness of African American men and women to use firearms when...