Ira Berlin Libri

Ranging from the early 1600s to the beginning of the nineteenth century, a panoramic survey of the lives of blacks under slavery reveals the changing nature of slavery as the first generations of creole slaves gave way to the plantation workers. UP.

A master historian traces African-American slavery in the United States from its beginnings in the 17th century to its fiery demise nearly 300 years later, providing a rich understanding of the slaves' experience that continues to mobilize American thought and passions today.

An award-winning historian's sweeping new interpretation of the African American experience. In this masterful account, Ira Berlin, one of the nation's most distinguished historians, offers a revolutionary-and sure to be controversial-new view of African American history. In The Making of African America, Berlin challenges the traditional presentation of a linear, progressive history from slavery to freedom. Instead, he puts forth the idea that four great migrations, between the seventeenth and twenty-first centuries, lie at the heart of black American culture and its development. With an engrossing, accessible narrative, Berlin traces the transit from Africa to America, Virginia to Alabama, Biloxi to Chicago, Lagos to the Bronx, and in the process finds the essence of black American life.

Set in a richly detailed world, this book explores complex themes of identity and belonging through its compelling characters. The narrative intertwines personal struggles with broader social issues, offering readers a profound look at the human experience. Its unique storytelling and vivid imagery create an immersive atmosphere, making it a significant work that resonates with readers on multiple levels. The author's insightful prose invites reflection and discussion, ensuring its place in literary conversations.

Perhaps no event in American history arouses more impassioned debate than the abolition of slavery. Answers to basic questions about who ended slavery, how, and why remain fiercely contested more than a century and a half after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. In The Long Emancipation, Ira Berlin draws upon decades of study to offer a framework for understanding slavery’s demise in the United States. Freedom was not achieved in a moment, and emancipation was not an occasion but a near-century-long process—a shifting but persistent struggle that involved thousands of men and women. “Ira Berlin ranks as one of the greatest living historians of slavery in the United States... The Long Emancipation offers a useful reminder that abolition was not the charitable work of respectable white people, or not mainly that. Instead, the demise of slavery was made possible by the constant discomfort inflicted on middle-class white society by black activists. And like the participants in today’s Black Lives Matter movement, Berlin has not forgotten that the history of slavery in the United States—especially the history of how slavery ended—is never far away when contemporary Americans debate whether their nation needs to change.” —Edward E. Baptist, New York Times Book Review