The Philadelphia Negro : a social study /

This set represents an invaluable assembly of the works of the pioneering African American scholar, activist, and creative genius W.E.B. Du Bois. Herbert Aptheker's 1973 effort to bring together many of the works of Du Bois, apart from being currently out of print, could in no way match the magnitude and depth of this endeavor. Du Bois's writing prowess is presented fully for the attention of today's readers, who will no doubt conclude that Du Bois wrote with a fluidity of style reserved only for the most gifted and insightful. The riveting remark that opened his Soul of Black Folks, "the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line," etched into America's consciousness an analytical rebuke to a system painstakingly diagnosed and submitted with the subliminal warning delivered in The Philadelphia Negro: "much of the sorrow and bitterness that surrounds the life of the American Negro comes from the unconscious prejudice and half-conscious actions of men and women who do not intend to wound or annoy." Together, the volumes of this set constitute a thorough search into the problems of African Americans at that time, into a clarification of the past and an understanding of those peculiar forces that have shaped race relations in America. Editor Gates (Harvard Univ.) needs no introduction either, and the introductions to the individual volumes are written by such distinguished scholars as to make those writings indispensable treasures in their own right. Recommended for all public libraries and essential for every academic institution.-Edward K. Owusu-Ansah, Kingsborough Community Coll. Lib., Brooklyn, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 10 Up--Du Bois was born a mere three years after the end of the Civil War into a society rabidly hostile to the black man. A monumental intellect, he was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. His writings and research were extensive and eclectic and spanned the length of his long life. That the author's shadow looms large even now is made evident by the many prominent scholars who provide detailed introductions to each book in this groundbreaking collection. The set includes Du Bois's autobiography and doctoral dissertation, his best-known works (The Souls of Black Folks, Dust of Dawn, and The Philadelphia Negro), and other works of biography, sociology, and fiction. Each book contains the same biographical time line. This set is a valuable contribution to African-American scholarship. It has the potential to introduce a new readership to the scope and breadth of a unique and seminal thinker. The works included can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issues now facing contemporary Americans. Although some of the selections in this breathtaking collection will be of interest to upper level high school students, others will be used primarily by those taking AP classes.--Carol Jones Collins, Columbia High School, Maplewood, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.