In Battle for Peace: The Story of My 83rd Birthday

by Henry Louis Gates Jr (Editor), Renate Mahler (Introduction)

Overview

W. E. B. Du Bois was a public intellectual, sociologist, and activist on behalf of the African American community. He profoundly shaped black political culture in the United States through his founding role in the NAACP, as well as internationally through the Pan-African movement. Du Bois's sociological and historical research on African-American communities and culture broke ground in many areas, including the history of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. Du Bois was also a prolific author of novels, autobiographical accounts, innumerable editorials and journalistic pieces, and several works of history.

One of the most neglected and obscure books by W. E. B. Du Bois, In Battle for Peace frankly documents Du Bois's experiences following his attempts to mobilize Americans against the emerging conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. A victim of McCarthyism, Du Bois endured a humiliating trial-he was later acquitted-and faced political persecution for over a decade. Part autobiography and part political statement, In Battle for Peace remains today a powerful analysis of race in America. With a series introduction by editor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and an introduction by Manning Marable, this edition is essential for anyone interested in African American history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199386888
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	03/01/2014
Series:	The Soliloquy
Pages:	151
Product dimensions:	6.19(w) x 9.33(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He has edited several major reference works, including Dictionary of African Biography, African American Lives, Africana, and African American National Biography. In addition, he is Editor in Chief of the Oxford African American Studies Center (www.oxfordaasc.com).

Table of Contents

Series Introduction: The Black Letters on the Sign
Introduction
I. About Birthdays
II. The Council on African Affairs
III. My Habit of Travel
IV. Peace Congresses
V. The Peace Information Center
VI. My Campaign for Senator
VII. The Indictment
VIII. The Birthday Dinner
IX. An Indicted Criminal
X. The Pilgrimages for Defense
XI. Oh! John Rogge
XII. The Trial
XIII. The Acquittal
XIV. Interpretations
Appendix
Index
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois: A Chronology
Selected Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"This set represents an invaluable assembly of the works of the pioneering African American scholar, activist, and creative genius....The introductions to the individual volumes are written by such distinguished scholars as to make those writings indispensable treasures in their own right. Recommended for all public libraries and essential for every academic institution."—Library Journal (starred review)

"This set is a valuable contribution to African-American scholarship. It has the potential to introduce a new readership to the scope and breadth of a unique and seminal thinker. The works included can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issues now facing contemporary Americans....[A] breathtaking collection."—School Library Journal

"The general introduction and the introductions to each of Du Bois's works form a valuable opus in their own right, as they convey the author's political and social theories and indicate the richness and development of his ideas....The realities of slavery, racism, and segregation in the United States are always at the forefront, making these works (many of them out-of-print) continually pertinent and forceful reading....This set will be an essential addition to public and college libraries."—Reference and Research Book News

"This set will be vital to all large university libraries with collections in African American history and American literature."—American Reference Books Annual

"Examining Du Bois's oeuvre in its totality reveals an arc to his career, swinging from the formal scholarly writing of his early years to a trenchant and trademark blend of history, memoir, and polemic....Bringing together all of DuBois's work as a whole, observes [Lawrence D. Bobo of Stanford University's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity], 'reveals the enormity of his intellect, and how it was ignored in his day."—The Chronicle of Philanthropy

"W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) published 22 works during his long career, all of them contained within this impressive and painstaking collected set....[T]he general introduction and the introductions to each of Du Bois's works form a valuable opus in their own right, as they convey the author's political and social theories and indicate the richness and development of his ideas. Du Bois's conception of race and color in America is a central theme throughout his oeuvre, beginning with his seminal Souls of Black Folk of 1903. The realities of slavery, racism, and segregation in the United States are always at the forefront, making these works (many of them out-of-print) continually pertinent and forceful reading....This set will be an essential addition to public and college libraries."—Reference and Research Book News

From the Publisher