Review by Choice Review
With only 117 pages of text, this very compact narrative of blacks and civil rights from the Civil War to the present is a very fast-paced overview. The text emphasizes political events (too much), focused largely on national developments. Some attention is paid to cultural developments in the black community, although this is also covered briefly. There is a chapter on post-Civil War developments, one on the Great Migration north and its consequences, a chapter on the Civil Rights Movement to 1965, a section on Black Power, and a final chapter on recent developments in race relations. The full complexity of the events from WW II to the 1970s cannot be adequately conveyed in a book of this length. The focus on national events blurs the impact of local variations that recent scholarship has revealed; the significant role of women in the "movement" is obscured; and the deep roots of Black Power extending well back before 1965 are not discussed. A solid bibliography and clear, concise writing help. Recommended for undergraduates only. J. F. Findlay emeritus, University of Rhode Island
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
