On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail (Paperback)

~ Charles E. Cobb (Author)
Key Phrases: nonviolent workshops, Martin Luther King, South Carolina, Civil War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It could easily be a textbook for Black History Month. It is so tightly written that the reader follows the trail Cobb skillfully outlines in the 388-page book."--Currents (Currents )

"In On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail, Charles Cobb Jr. injects some much needed immediacy into the myth by compiling a detailed, city-by-city guide to its lesser known people, places and events. Even readers who think they've got a pretty good grasp of civil rights history are likely to find stories and personalities in the book they haven't encountered before. . . . On the Road to Freedom benefits from both [the author's] intimate knowledge of the movement and his investigative skills. . . . This book is first-rate popular history, and deserves a place in any freedom-lovers library."-- Nashville Scene (Nashville Scene )

On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail is another chance for us to learn, remember and be proud of a group of people who struggled to make changes without seeing what vacation days we have. . . . Cobb's book will certainly make you think about places you are familiar with where change happened and how it affected you."-- The State (The State )

In On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail, Charles Cobb Jr. injects some much needed immediacy into the myth by compiling a detailed, city-by-city guide to its lesser known people, places and events. Even readers who think they've got a pretty good grasp of civil rights history are likely to find stories and personalities in the book they haven't encountered before. . . . On the Road to Freedom benefits from both [the author's] intimate knowledge of the movement and his investigative skills. . . . This book is first-rate popular history, and deserves a place in any freedom-lovers library.-- Nashville Scene (Nashville Scene )

On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail is another chance for us to learn, remember and be proud of a group of people who struggled to make changes without seeing what vacation days we have. . . . Cobb's book will certainly make you think about places you are familiar with where change happened and how it affected you."-- The State (The State )

Review

"Cobb brings alive America's last good war and its many heroes, unsung as well as famous. From chapter to chapter, you are there."—Hodding Carter III

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Product Details

• Paperback: 388 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1st edition (December 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565124391
• ISBN-13: 978-1565124394
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #594,522 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't leave home without it, June 5, 2008

By	AfroAmericanHeritage (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

I became interested in this book when I heard the author, Charles Cobb Jr. interviewed on NPR's "Tell Me More" with Michel Martin. Cobb is a veteran of the civil rights movement and a founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists. He spoke about sitting on the steps of a middle school in Medgar Evers' old neighborhood, across from the Fannie Lou Hamer Library, trying to engage some kids in conversation about the movement in Mississippi. When he told them he'd known Mrs. Hamer, a little boy said in amazement "YOU were alive back then?!"

That's when he realized the era was fading into ancient history, viewed as a mass movement led by a few charismatic and long dead leaders. This book - part memoir, part travel guide, part history book - is intended to capture the deeper meaning of the fight for civil rights, community grassroots organizing and thousands of independent acts of courage reaching further back than the 1960's...in fact, he said, the movement probably began as soon as the first African stepped off the ship in chains and began thinking of how to escape.

With Cobb as our personal guide we travel through Washington D.C. and eight Southern states. But this is so much more than just a visitor's guide to historic sites, museums and plaques. Nearly every page is graced with photos, quotes from interviews, songs, letters, or key documents. We get to know the men and women not mentioned in the "Civil Rights Canon," the everyday yet heroic people fighting for justice and equality in their own back yards.

Academicians will be happy with the careful citing of sources in end notes; general readers will be delighted with the compelling narrative flow. It's the sort of book I find myself reading twice: first skimming through to read all the fascinating sidebars, then reading through state by state. If I had a "favorite book of the year" this would be it for 2008. It belongs on the shelf of every school and community library.

The only thing lacking is contact information for the many museums and cultural centers mentioned, but of course, such information quickly becomes outdated in a print format, so I'd suggest using the book in conjunction with my frequently updated website AfroAmericanTravel dot com

4.0 out of 5 stars On The Road To Freedom, February 21, 2009

By	Col Albert E. Lassiter (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Enjoyed very much--was impressed with the intimate details surrounding
some of the civil rights activities. As a member of the "Tougaloo Nine"
in the March 1961 sit-in at the Jackson(MS) public library, and the first
such organized sit-in demonstration in Miss., I was pleased to see the
information about NAACP Field Secretary, Medgar Evers, who was so instrumental in very many of Mississippi's civil rights efforts.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best One Volume History of Civil Rights, February 15, 2008

By	BookWoman/BookMan TV REVIEWS (Nashville, Tn United States) - See all my reviews

"From Maryland through the deep south to Tennessee, author Charles E. Cobb, Jr. identifies with speeches, photographs and maps, the struggles and triumphs of the modern civil rights movement. This is the best one volume story of those heroic days."