In December 1848, an enslaved couple in Georgia embarked on a clandestine four-day journey that would take them from Macon to Savannah to Charleston, South Carolina, and across the Mason-Dixon Line to Philadelphia and freedom. Ellen Craft, whose father was a slave owner, disguised herself as an infirm young White gentleman, swaddled in bandages and wearing a silk top hat and tinted glasses. Ellen’s husband, William Craft, posed as the young man’s slave. Together, they would risk separation and horrific reprisals in a bid for self-emancipation.

This remarkable story, little known today, is the subject of Ilyon Woo’s Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom (Simon & Schuster, Jan. 7). Woo based the book on the Crafts’ own 1860 account, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, but also draws on extensive historical research to fashion a richly detailed portrait of American society before the Civil War. At every step of the couple’s journey, readers learn about the customs, attitudes, economic networks, and legal systems that maintained the institution of slavery. In a starred review, our critic called it a “captivating tale.”

I was reading Master Slave Husband Wife as we headed into Black History Month—a time when the publishing industry typically releases more works than usual addressing African American life past and present. I’ll add the caveat that we should publish and read Black history all 12 months of the year; as James Baldwin put it, “The history of America is the history of the Negro in America. And it’s not a pretty picture.” Here are some other new releases to add to your Black History reading list, alongside Woo.

I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction by Kidada E. Williams (Bloomsbury, Jan. 17): Scholarship of recent years, including the Kirkus Prize finalist By Hands Now Known by Margaret A. Burnham, has helped us to better understand the failure of Reconstruction in the wake of the Civil War. This book adds to that picture by focusing on anti-Black violence—and Black resistance—during the period.

Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance by Alvin Hall with Karl Weber (HarperOne, Jan. 31): The Negro Motorist Green Book, which guided at least two generations of Black travelers to safe motels, restaurants, and stores during the Jim Crow era, became more widely known after the Oscar-winning 2018 film Green Book. Here, a broadcaster hit the road to visit some of these sanctuaries and talk with those who lived through the time.

Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement by Mark Whitaker (Simon & Schuster, Feb. 7): The former editor of Newsweek zeroes in on the pivotal year when activist Stokely Carmichael coined the term Black Power—with far-reaching effects for political organizing, art, music, fashion, and other realms of American life. In a starred review, our critic calls the book an “essential volume in the history of Black liberation movements.”

Tom Beer is the editor-in-chief.