W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History

This book provides a new interpretation of the life of W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the most important African American scholars and thinkers of the 20th century.

This revealing biography captures the full life of W.E.B. Du Bois-historian, sociologist, author, editor, and a leader in the fight to bring African Americans more fully into the American landscape as well as a forceful proponent of their leaving America altogether and returning to Africa. Drawing on extensive research and including new primary documents, sidebars, and analysis, Gerald Horne and Charisse Burden-Stelly offer a portrait of this remarkable man, paying special attention to the often-overlooked radical decades at the end of Du Bois’s life.

The book also highlights Du Bois’s relationships with and influence on civil rights activists, intellectuals, and freedom fighters, among them Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Shirley Graham Du Bois, Louise Thompson Patterson, William Alphaeus Hunton, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The biography includes a selection of primary source documents, including personal letters, speeches, poems, and newspaper articles, that provide insight into Du Bois’s life based on his own words and analysis.

Provides a comprehensive overview of the life and times of W.E.B. Du Bois

Takes an interdisciplinary approach to his life and works

Traces his radicalization over time

Pays particular attention to the effects of the Cold War and anticommunism on his philosophy

Provides key primary documents with explanations of their significance