To fully appreciate our country's history and the problems and possibilities we face as a nation on the eve of a new century, Americans--young and old--need to know that the fascinating heritage of African Americans begins not with the slave ships of Portugal and Spain, but with the richly diverse tribes, cultures, and ancient civilizations of the African continent. We need to understand that the long journey for freedom and equality for all Americans began well before the Civil War, or even the Revolutionary War, and that the journey continues to this day. Now history's missing pages at last come to life with the publication of The Young Oxford History of African Americans.
Spanning five centuries, this extraordinary 11-volume series paints a vibrant and compelling portrait of the lives of African Americans. Written by distinguished American historians, the series sets a new standard for accuracy, balance, and breadth of scholarship in a reference aimed at the general reader. The lively narrative is rich in gripping first person accounts and short character sketches that invite readers to relive history as African Americans experienced it. From the first black Africans brought as slaves into the Caribbean islands and the colonies of Central and South America to today's black filmmakers and politicians, the stories of remarkable individuals of great courage and ability are told, but also those of ordinary men and women whose struggles and accomplishments continue to shape history. Whatever their race or background, readers come away with a deeper appreciation of African Americans as a people who have long shared in the aspiration and expectations of their
fellow citizens, but who have done so with a unique history and a unique set of barriers to overcome.
Unrivaled in breadth or depth, The Young Oxford History of African Americans is an unforgettable portrait of a people. It is an essential reference not only for students of African-American history, but also for libraries, teachers, parents, and all of us who strive to understand the struggles and sacrifices of the American past, the formidable challenges of our present, and our brightest hopes for the future.

About the Author:
Robin D. G. Kelley is Professor of history and Africana studies at New York University. He is the author of Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression, which received the Eliot Rudwick prize of the Organization of America Historians and was named Outstanding Book on Human Rights by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in the United States. Professor Kelley is also the author of Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class and co-editor of Imagining Home: Class, Culture, and Nationalism in the African Diaspora.
Earl Lewis is Professor of history and Afroamerican studies at the University of Michigan. He served as Director of the university's Center for Afroamerican and African Studies from 1990 to 1993. Professor Lewis is the author of In Their Own Interests: Race, Class, and Power in Twentieth Century Norfolk and co-author of Blacks in the Industrial Age: A Documentary History.