Buy African American Lives here, one of 553 African American History books offered for sale at discount prices here in the history books section at R bookshop. There are currently 71919 history books in our history books section, and over 1,000,000 books listed in our book store. We greatly appreciate your patronage at R bookshop and look forward to offering you a large selection of great books at discount prices now and in the future. Thank you for shopping at R Bookshop!
|
You Are Here: Home > History Books > African American History > Item 85
 |
African American Lives
|
by Henry Louis Gates and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham
Sales Rank: 511542
|
List Price: $60.00
$34.92
At Amazon
on 6-17-2008.
|
|
|
|
Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 1056 pages
Published by: Oxford University Press, USA April 29, 2004
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 019516024X
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0195160246
Book Dimensions:
11.6 x 8.3 x 1.8 inches
Weighs: 5.8 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
This substantial compilation offers thorough, accessible biographies of 611 African-Americans over more than four centuries, beginning with Esteban, the first African known to have set foot in North America, up through writers, academics, artists, activists and more of today. A few of these profiles have been written by notable namesâ€"Gerald Early on Muhammad Ali, Clayborne Carson on Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, John Szwed on Miles Davisâ€"though most are by lesser-known contributors. Usefully, the biographies contain multiple cross-references to others in the book and list sources at the end. The 1,000â€"3,000-word entries are generally well-written, even lyrical, and balanced, for example assessing controversies regarding O.J. Simpson or preacher Daddy Grace. This achievement has flaws. Some biographies include unnecessary lists of awards and cheerleading: why tell us of Condoleezza Rice being honored by the NAACP but not of her role in the Iraq war? Wasn't Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. a tyrant as well as a genius? Former energy secretary Hazel O'Leary is described as "strikingly attractive and warm" while academic Cornel West embodies a "profound love for and faith in humanity." Some 257 of the entries have been reprinted from American National Biography (Oxford, 1999); Gates and Higginbotham's volume is part of the African-American National Biography project, which will include 6,000 profiles. While this book has resurrected numerous figuresâ€"Onesimus, slave and medical pioneer; Daniel Coker, a founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; etc.â€"it undoubtedly will inspire debate about more contemporary choices. Why Tupac Shakur but not Russell Simmons (or anyone else from the rap world)? Why Suzan-Lori Parks but not George C. Wolfe? Why Sharon Pratt Kelly, the first African-American female mayor of a major city, but not her more controversial predecessor, Marion Barry? Oh, and if his former colleague West is included, where's editor Gates himself? Despite such quibbles, this documenting of major power and achievement will undoubtedly be a standard reference work.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up–Published two years in advance of the 10-times-more-massive African American National Biography (Oxford, scheduled for 2006), this sampler profiles more than 600 men and women, from Esteban to Tupac Shakur. The signed entries, about 250 of which are reprinted from The American National Biography (Oxford, 1999), are ordered alphabetically; range from one to five triple-columned pages in length; include cross-references as well as, when feasible, small, muddy black-and-white portraits; and close with short but rich reading lists, heavy on primary sources. Back matter includes a list by general category or occupation (e.g., "Science," "Slaves," "Sports"), complete lists of prize winners (with entrants in this volume indicated in boldface), and an admirably detailed index. As relatively few of the subjects here are still living, this resource has a distinctly historical bent–but the scholarship is current, the approach is incisively analytical, and the writing is anything but dry: the entry on expatriate pygmy Otabenga, for instance, opens by describing him as an "elephant hunter, Bronx Zoo exhibit, and tobacco worker." World-class collections that already own this volume's monumental predecessor should be able to hold out for its full version. For the rest of us, though (despite editorial assertions to the contrary), there are alternatives, such as R. Kent Rasmussen's African American Encyclopedia (Marshall Cavendish, 2001) or, at least for the women's side of the story, Darlene Clark Hine's Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia (Carlson, 1993; o.p.). Still, it's an exciting, and affordable, new resource.–John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Reader Reviews
I bought this book for my husband's birthday and he loved it. Though I haven't read it from cover to cover, I am constantly referencing it. Need facts on any prominent (and some not so prominent) African Americans, this book has everyone from Sojourner Truth to Malcolm X. I actually called Harvard University and was able to get my copy signed and Prof Gates was extremely gracious. I think every house with encyclopedias should include this in there library.
Comment | |
(Report this)
Back To Top
|
African American Lives
Available from Amazon
Price: $34.92
Updated on 6-17-2008.
|
NOTICE: All prices, availability, and specifications
are subject to verification by their respective retailers.
| We offer African American Lives and other related African American History Books here at Rbookshop.com. To view more books about African American History please use the previous and next buttons near the top of this page.
|
|
Search for books at
