Black Moses: The Story of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association [Paperback]

E. David Cronon (Author), John Hope Franklin (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1960

In the early twentieth century, Marcus Garvey sowed the seeds of a new black pride and determination. Attacked by the black intelligentsia and ridiculed by the white press, this Jamaican immigrant astonished all with his black nationalist rhetoric.  In just four years, he built the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), the largest and most powerful all-black organization the nation had ever seen.  With hundreds of branches, throughout the United States, the UNIA represented Garvey’s greatest accomplishment and, ironically, the source of his public disgrace.  Black Moses brings this controversial figure to life and recovers the significance of his life and work.

“Those who are interested in the revolutionary aspects of the twentieth century in America should not miss Cronon’s book. It makes exciting reading.”—The Nation

“A very readable, factual, and well-documented biography of Marcus Garvey.”—The Crisis, NAACP

“In a short, swiftly moving, penetrating biography, Mr. Cronon has made the first real attempt to narrate the Garvey story. From the Jamaican's traumatic race experiences on the West Indian island to dizzy success and inglorious failure on the mainland, the major outlines are here etched with sympathy, understanding, and insight.”—Mississippi Valley Historical Review (Now the Journal of American History).

“Good reading for all serious history students.”—Jet

“A vivid, detailed, and sound portrait of a man and his dreams.”—Political Science Quarterly

Editorial Reviews

Review

“I stand before you this afternoon as a proud black man, honored to be a black man, who would be nothing else in God's creation but a black man.”—Marcus Garvey, 1928

About the Author

E. David Cronon (1924–2006), was professor emeritus of history and dean emeritus of the College of Letters and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is author of numerous books and articles on twentieth-century American history, including Labor and the New Deal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 278 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press (March 15, 1960)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 029901214X
• ISBN-13: 978-0299012144
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #497,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Honest and Informative, March 11, 2001

By 

Samuel Clemens "soonerschooner" (Boston MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Moses: The Story of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (Paperback)

Knowing only of the name "Marcus Garvey," I set about reading this book to get a better understanding of Garvey's beliefs and perceptions on race relations in the 1920's and 1930's. This book fit the billing, with an honest account of the victories, defeats, embarassments, and lasting effects of Marcus Garvey's legacy. Unforunately, Marcus Garvey was never spoken of in my high school or college history courses. This book provides a great starting point for understanding the conditions in 1920's America, which allowed Marcus Garvey to gather such a large and faithful following.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Outdated, September 13, 2004

By 

pullb "pullb" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Moses: The Story of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (Paperback)

Black Moses was first published nearly 50 years ago. It was based on a masters thesis and for years was the only book available on Marcus Garvey. Since the 1970s several new books on Garvey have appeared, most notably Race First by Tony Martin. These more recent books are much better researched and incorporate a lot of new sources that Cronon was unaware of or did not have access to. These include Garvey's newspaper, the Negro World and various governmenrt records in the US National Archives. It simply is no longer possible to get a really accurate view of Marcus Garvey from Cronon's now woefully out of date work. It served its purpose but should now give way to better books.