The Negro [Paperback]

W. E. B. Du Bois (Author), William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2001

This work, by one of the champions of the early civil rights movement in the U.S., pulls together the various elements of African history and highlights the distinctive and complex cultures existing in Africa before the slave trade, citing evidence of architectural development, iron working, writing, and numerous other cultural advances.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Surprisingly, this 1915 title by one of our nation's most important African American writers has floundered in obscurity for decades. Du Bois here offers one of the earliest histories of African peoples and their cultures, from the devastation caused by European colonization to the lives of blacks in the early 20th century. This edition contains a new afterword by historian Robert Gregg. Essential for all libraries.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"Important by any standard."—Kirkus

"The book ought to be generally read, for it contains more than mere information. It gathers and sets forth authentic data which form the kind of historic background essential to race consciousness."—James Weldon Johnson

"The whole is written with an intellectual force, a breadth of learning, and a judicial poise that compel respect."—New York Times

--New York Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Unabridged edition (March 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486414434
• ISBN-13: 978-0486414430
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,587,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Unknown Dubois, August 23, 2009

By 

Jeffrey Carey (willingboro, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Negro (Paperback)

W.E.B Dubois is most famous for being one of the founders of the N.A.A.C.P and for his critique of Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Compromise speech in his now famous The Souls of Black Folk which is required reading at most Black Studies Departments at universities throughout the United States in fact a typical United States History program may have you read it as well;however, DuBois book the Negro for which this review is about seems to be less popular and I find that many people have not read it and the historians who mention it rarely talk about it in detail, essentially the book gives a history of African people in Africa,America,and the Caribbean and talks about their accomplishments and struggles from ancient(5000B.C) to modern times(1915). After reading this book I now know why many programs rarely use this book I can't help but believe it is because the book is very Afrocentric in its structure.....I was shocked to find out that when it came to the history of ancient Africa Dubois has more in common with the afrocentrist Molefi Asante than many may realize and less in common with the more popular scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.(regardless of whether he is a part of the W.E.B Dubois Department at Harvard) I saw Henry Louis Gates PBS documentary Wonders of the African World maybe about five years ago and I remember how skeptical he was about connecting Ancient Egypt to the rest of sub-saharan Africa......DuBois is not shy at all when he states that Egypt is indeed a part of Africa and that the people who founded Egypt were Negro(this was the word used at the time the book was written)Dubois was more radical than people realize he was one of the founders of Pan-African Congress I believe there were five in all, he would eventually leave the N.A.A.C.P abandon the idea of integration, become a socialist(The F.B.I had a file on him), move back to Africa and die in Ghana.....in fact Dubois would have more in common with his enemy Marcus Garvey(Dubois in his early career would criticize Garvey for his back to Africa movement)than he would realize. Its a great read for anyone interested in this African-American intellectual giant it may change your perspective on the man you think you know, but it should make you find him even more interesting. I will warn you that the book is dated it was written in 1915 so some of his theories are proven wrong, one example would be that Dubois at the time thought that man originated in the Middle East, thanks to the archaeological and DNA record we now know that man originated in Africa, but enjoy this book and may it increase our understanding of this great man

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Navigation, January 20, 2011

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James O. Smith (Minneapolis, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Negro (Kindle Edition)

This is what it says it is: a public domain text with hypertext navigation that allows the user to easily move from the contents page to the individual chapters and sections. Most public domain texts are just Project Gutenberg texts rendered into the Kindle format. This text was carefully constructed to make navigation easy.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read, even if you have to read it again and again, August 14, 2006

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InTheKnow "Knowledge is Power" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Negro (Paperback)

This book took me on a deep journey. Granted it may take most more than giving it a once over, but if you spend the time and effort to really get to know the book, and research exactly what the author is saying it is well worth the time that you took to understand it. A great read, and will challenge even the most agile mind.