At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America

At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America (Modern Library)

WINNER OF THE SOUTHERN BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR NONFICTION â€¢ â€œA landmark work of unflinching scholarship.â€â€”The New York Times

This extraordinary account of lynching in America, by acclaimed civil rights historian Philip Dray, shines a clear, bright light on American historyâ€™s darkest stainâ€”illuminating its causes, perpetrators, apologists, and victims. Philip Dray also tells the story of the men and women who led the long and difficult fight to expose and eradicate lynching, including Ida B. Wells, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, and W.E.B. Du Bois. If lynching is emblematic of what is worst about America, their fight may stand for what is best: the commitment to justice and fairness and the conviction that one individualâ€™s sense of right can suffice to defy the gravest of wrongs. This landmark book follows the trajectory of both forces over American historyâ€”and makes lynchingâ€™s legacy belong to us all.

Praise for At the Hands of Persons Unknown

â€œIn this history of lynching in the post-Reconstruction Southâ€”the most comprehensive of its kindâ€”the author has written what amounts to a Black Book of American race relations.â€â€”The New Yorker

â€œA powerfully written, admirably perceptive synthesis of the vast literature on lynching. It is the most comprehensive social history of this shameful subject in almost seventy years and should be recognized as a major addition to the bibliography of American race relations.â€â€”David Levering Lewis

â€œAn important and courageous book, well written, meticulously researched, and carefully argued.â€â€”The Boston Globe

â€œYou donâ€™t really know what lynching was until you read Drayâ€™s ghastly accounts of public butchery and official complicity.â€â€”Time
Country USA
Brand Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer Random House Publishing Group
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 7196
Color Blue
ReleaseDate 2003-01-07
UnitCount 1
UPCs 884437614036
EANs 9780375754456

Country	USA
Brand	Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer	Random House Publishing Group
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	7196
Color	Blue
ReleaseDate	2003-01-07
UnitCount	1
UPCs	884437614036
EANs	9780375754456

At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America (Modern Library)

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