****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I recently pulled this book up from my TBR pile and was merely going to browse through it until I reached a hotspot where I could download something else. Instead, I ended up reading the book cover to cover.In its time (being published in 1903) this book was meant to be persuasive, a tool to help people understand and mollify or change their thought processes. I continued reading the book for an entirely different reason, based upon my love and fascination of history. In today’s world, this is definitely a revealing slice of history. It not only reveals another side to the United States during the 35 years after the Civil War, but also allows an understanding of the evolving issues in the 20th and 21st centuries.History is always best when related by someone who lived during that era, and W.E.B. DuBois certainly qualifies. His words seek to enlighten rather than incite, and reading the book will provide the path leading to the incendiary speech of today. While I had some knowledge of the time period, this was my first introduction to the world of the former slaves, and reading the timeline of events from 1865 to 1900 enabled me to draw my own lines form 1900 to the current year.There are those who may incorrectly determine that this is nothing more than a treatise, one over a century old that should be allowed to gather dust or molder away. In an era where some think nothing of erasing our country’s history, this is one more example why we need to embrace our history, no matter whether it is positive or negative. Without looking back and correcting our errors, how can we ever expect to move forward? Five stars.
