Long Memory: The Black Experience in America [Paperback]

Mary Frances Berry (Author), John W. Blassingame (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195029100 | ISBN-13: 978-0195029109 | Publication Date: July 1, 1982

This powerful, provocative survey is organized around the key issues of Afro-American history: Africa and slavery, family, religion, sex and racism, politics, economics, education, criminal justice, discrimination and protest movements, and black nationalism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Concise enough to be grasped by students on all levels of academia....Shows profound scholarship and its facility of style renders it a tour de force."--Ralph J. Lowry, Lincoln University

"An excellent book. A modern classic. It is both comprehensive and concise; and therefore very good for undergraduate students with little historical background in African-American studies. The best thing is the approach, which utilizes non-traditional materials to bring a necessary corrective to the distortions and limitations of most texts."--E. Yvonne Moss, University of San Francisco

"Excellent text. Particularly useful for classes in African American culture which may attract a wide range of students."--Willi Coleman, Cal Poly State Uni San Luis?

"The quality of the writing and the concepts is exceptional."--John R. M. Wilson, Southern California College

"An invaluable resource for students of the Afro-American past."--The New Republic

"Excellent interpretative history, ideal for Honors courses and senior classes. Should be in every black scholar's library."--Arthur A. Drayton, University of Kansas

"Few have written more creative history. A brilliantly written and illustrated work."--Leroy T. Williams, University of Arkansas

About the Author

Mary Frances Berry is at Howard University. John W. Blassingame is at Yale University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195029100
• ISBN-13: 978-0195029109
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Frances Berry is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, and the author of nine books. The recipient of thirty-three honorary degrees, she has been chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, is a regular contributor to Politico, and has appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher, Anderson Cooper 360, The Daily Show, Tavis Smiley, and PBS's NewsHour.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent survey, December 31, 2004

By 

kvabooks - See all my reviews

This review is from: Long Memory: The Black Experience in America (Paperback)

Contrary to the myopic review below, 'Long Memory' chronicles an extensive analysis of the African American experience in America. Apart from an illusory union of American peoples which exists only in flaming conservative imaginations, there is nothing in this particular piece of classic literature that could even be remotely viewed as divisive, unless of course ethnophobia prevents one from seeing the world from the perspective of someone else's looking glass.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars African American experience, November 10, 2003

By 

Jonathan Moore (Terre Haute, Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Long Memory: The Black Experience in America (Paperback)

I am an African and African American Studies and History major at Indiana State University. Long Memory is a powerful and provocative survey organized on key themes in African American history: slavery, family, religion, sex and racism, politics, economics, education, criminal justice, discrimination and protest movements, and black nationalism. An excellent and timeless book that reveals "the African American experience" to students that have little or no historical knowledge about African American history. Regardless of its age, Long Memory continues to be an invaluable resource for students and a required text in many Black Studies courses across the United States.

Long Memory is a well-developed masterpiece of scholarship that should be read by students looking to learn more about the African American experience. It has revealed to me the Afrocentric perspective of African American history and a must read for Black Studies majors. The authors of Long Memory are Mary Frances Berry at Howard University, and John W. Blassingame at Yale University.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad book..., June 27, 2009

By 

D. Whisenant "Whiz1988" (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Long Memory: The Black Experience in America (Paperback)

Even thought the book barely got used for its intended purpose, it was still a fine read.