The Quest of the Silver Fleece

"Dramatic, original, and convincing." — Literary Digest

One of the twentieth century's most influential leaders, sociologist and civil rights leader W. E. B. Du Bois spent his life fighting discrimination and prejudice. The first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University, he became a founding father of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and eventually turned to fiction to convey his message to a broader audience. First published in 1911, The Quest of the Silver Fleece brilliantly combines heartfelt romance with striking social commentary. 
Set against the turbulent background of the cotton industry — the "silver fleece" that relied on African American labor and linked Northern finance with Southern politics — the novel traces the path of an ambitious young man who falls in love with a free-spirited woman. Powerful and provocative, this novel continues to serve as an important reflection of racial views at the turn of the century.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) was one of the most influential black leaders of the 20th century, and his seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk, is considered one of the most important books in the African American literary canon. Du Bois later went on to help create the civil rights organization known as the NAACP, and in 1910 founded the association's magazine, The Crisis.