The Souls of Black Folk

When first published in 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois'sThe Souls of Black Folkstruck like a thunderclap, quickly establishing itself as a work that wholly redefined the history of the black experience in America, introducing the now famous "problem of the color line." In decades since, its stature has only grown, and today it ranks as one of the most influential and resonant works in the history of American thought. This centennial edition contains a landmark Introduction by historian David Levering Lewis that brilliantly demonstrates howThe Souls of Black Folkremains indispensable not only to an understanding of the history of race and democracy in America but to considerations of the future of racial and cultural comity in the twenty-first century.

<b>W.E.B. Du Bois</b> (1868–1963), writer, civil rights activist, scholar, and editor, is one of the most significant intellectuals in American history. A founding member of the NAACP, editor for many years of <i>The Crisis</i> and three other journals, and author of seventeen books, his writings, speeches, and public debates brought fundamental changes to American race relations.<br><br><b>David Levering Lewis</b> is Martin Luther King, Jr., University Professor in the department of history at Rutgers University. He won Pulitzer prizes for both volumes of his landmark biography of W.E.B. Du Bois, along with many other awards, including the Bancroft and Parkman prizes. He lives in Manhattan.