by Glen P. Watkins ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 4, 2016
A flawed and necessarily incomplete, but nevertheless dynamic, account of black American history.
A sweepingly ambitious debut book from Watkins sets out to “present an overall view of the black race from the time when slaves were brought to the shores of this country until 1992.”
Watkins’ topics include the slave trade, the antebellum North and South, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the impacts of WWI and WWII on race relations, the plights of Northern city ghettos, and the strategies, triumphs, and disappointments of the civil rights movement. Though the author provides ample historical analysis, many pages reproduce primary sources. The entirety of African-American history would be difficult to capture in 1,000 pages, let alone this volume’s 240, meaning that many topics within the book’s scope get scant coverage, such as the Harlem Renaissance or the Underground Railroad. Readers not expecting a comprehensive tome, however, can enjoy a stimulating collection of primary-source documents reflecting the hopes and fears of individuals who lived through turbulent times. The book devotes substantially higher page counts to the (likely better-documented) political activities of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Documents present include speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, John Brown, and Thurgood Marshall, antebellum writings observing slave life, court decisions on voting restrictions, and testimonials from sharecroppers and protesters. Watkins repeatedly argues for the importance of unionized labor in advancing African-American interests, and one of his final documents is his own 1992 analysis of black power in a changing capitalist society. A major stumbling block is formatting, which makes attribution of different documents somewhat difficult without constant reference to the endnotes. For example, Watkins’ description of sociologist Horace Cayton witnessing an anti-eviction protest in Depression-era Chicago is placed in the same paragraph as direct quotes from Cayton’s eyewitness account, but no marks or formatting indicate where Watkins’ sentences end and Cayton’s begins. About 20 pages are devoted to excerpts from the 1968 Civil Rights Act; the most important takeaways of the law, however, are lost in the sheer volume of quoted text.
A flawed and necessarily incomplete, but nevertheless dynamic, account of black American history.Pub Date: March 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68256-770-8
Page Count: 254
Publisher: LitFire Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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