African American Literature History

A Charleston belle with slavery on her conscience. A slave with rebellion in her heart. In South Carolina in 1858, no friendship could be more dangerous.

Ida B. Wells is an American icon of truth telling. Born to slaves, she was a pioneer of investigative journalism, a crusader against lynching, and a tireless advocate for suffrage, both for women and for African Americans. She cofounded the NAACP, started the Alpha Suffrage Club in Chicago, and was a leader in the early civil rights movement. This engaging memoir relates Wells’ private life as a mother as well as her public activities as a teacher, lecturer, and journalist in her fight for equality and justice.

The year was 1877 and Reconstruction was working until Presidential politics removed the union troops from the South unleashing violent cold-blooded men to pray upon black Americans. Bertha and Tucker were raised in the ways of the Elders: maintain your dignity, know your history, and never compromise your values. Their children were more than sharecroppers. Junior, the oldest, was an astute businessman and new leader. Joan was a teacher. Joseph, the brother, no one wanted to fight. Rose fell in love with the wrong man. Gladys, the youngest, helped Rose through tough times. "If the Elders ...

Look for The Land of Sweet Forever, a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces by Harper Lee, coming October 21, 2025. Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American Read Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning...

This book describes the history of how African Americans came to Bastrop County as slaves and how their descendants helped the county grow and develop through religion, education and business and made significant contributions to the city and county up to 1988.

Inside this harrowing collection, you’ll uncover three thought-provoking and classic novels about slavery, civil rights, and the plight of African Americans before the abolition of slavery. With timeless narratives and poignant, dramatic prose, these books have stood the test of time to provide unique and moving accounts of life as a slave.

“Narrator Adam Lazarre-White masterfully voices a wide range of characters. Listeners will be captivated by the layered storytelling, morally complex characters, and the powerful interpretation of a narrative steeped in pain, violence, and family loyalty.”—AudioFile Award-winning, New York...

Now a STARZ Original Series produced by FremantleMedia North America starring Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane, Emily Browning, and Pablo Schreiber. Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer...

This is a novel in the guise of the tape-recorded recollections of a black woman who has lived 110 years, who has been both a slave and a witness to the black militancy of the 1960s. Miss Jane Pittman has "endured," has seen almost everything and foretold the rest.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK From the National Book Award–winning author of Between the World and Me, a boldly conjured debut novel about a magical gift, a devastating loss, and an underground war for freedom. “This potent book about America’s most...

“A deeply soulful novel that comprehends love and cruelty, and separates the big people from the small of heart, without ever losing sympathy for those unfortunates who don’t know how to live properly.” —Zadie Smith One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century...

This drive through the dark streets of the Motor City “is one of the best in Akashic Books’ noir series. You cannot go wrong with this anthology.”—Reviewing the Evidence From cri….

For a thousand years, Doro has cultivated a small African village, carefully breeding its people in search of seemingly unattainable perfection. He survives through the centuries by stealing the bodies of others, a technique he has so thoroughly mastered that nothing on Earth can kill him. But when a gang of New World slavers destroys his village, ruining his grand experiment, Doro is forced to go west and begin anew. He meets Anyanwu, a centuries-old woman whose means of immortality are as kind as his are cruel. Now they begin a struggle that will last centuries.

Teresa July has led a hard life, but now she has a chance to put her train robbing past behind her. Armed with a new job as a cook to one of Philadelphia's elite families, Teresa is determined to start her life anew, and nothing––not even her boss's stuck–up (and far too handsome)...

The compelling account of how two heritages united in their struggle to gain freedom and equality in America. The first paths to freedom taken by runaway slaves led to Native American villages. There, black men and women found acceptance and friendship among our country's original inhabitants. Though they seldom appear in textbooks and movies, the children of Native and African American marriages helped shape the early days of the fur trade, added a new dimension to frontier diplomacy, and made a daring contribution to the fight for American liberty.

An instant New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today Bestseller AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021 WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: New York Times Time Washington Post Oprah...

Look for The Land of Sweet Forever, a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces by Harper Lee, coming October 21, 2025. Performed by Reese Witherspoon #1 New York Times Bestseller “Go Set a Watchman is such an important book...

One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels “If one had to identify the single most influential shaping force in modern Black literary history, one would probably have to point to Wright and the publication of Native Son.” – Henry Louis Gates Jr. ""The most powerful American novel to...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER The daughter of an affluent Black family pieces together the connection between a childhood tragedy and a beloved heirloom in this moving novel from the bestselling author of Black Cake, a Read with Jenna Book Club Pick “Engrossing . . . Wilkerson masterfully weaves...

Now a major motion picture directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh alongside Gal Gadot. Beloved detective Hercule Poirot embarks on a journey to Egypt in one of Agatha Christie’s most famous mysteries. The tranquility of a luxury cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that...