Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads

Higher Education


Catalogs
News
Desk/Exam
(0)
Wish List (0)
Wish List
Download high-resolution image Look inside

The Souls of Black Folk

With "The Talented Tenth" and "The Souls of White Folk"

Author W. E. B. Du Bois
Introduction by Ibram X. Kendi
Notes by Monica E. Elbert
Look inside
Paperback
$14.00 US
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Classics
On sale Apr 01, 1996 | 288 Pages | 9780140189988
Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies
See Additional Formats
The landmark book about being black in America, now in an expanded edition commemorating the 150th anniversary of W. E. B. Du Bois’s birth and featuring a new introduction by Ibram X. Kendi, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist, and cover art by Kadir Nelson
 
“The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.”
 
When The Souls of Black Folk was first published in 1903, it had a galvanizing effect on the conversation about race in America—and it remains both a touchstone in the literature of African America and a beacon in the fight for civil rights. Believing that one can know the “soul” of a race by knowing the souls of individuals, W. E. B. Du Bois combines history and stirring autobiography to reflect on the magnitude of American racism and to chart a path forward against oppression, and introduces the now-famous concepts of the color line, the veil, and double-consciousness.
 
This edition of Du Bois’s visionary masterpiece includes two additional essays that have become essential reading: “The Souls of White Folk,” from his 1920 book Darkwater, and “The Talented Tenth.”

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Introduction by Donald B. Gibson
Acknowledgments
Suggestions for Further Reading

THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK

The Forethought

I. Of Our Spiritual Strivings
II. Of the Dawn of Freedom
III. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others
IV. Of the Meaning of Progress
V. Of the Wings of Atalanta
VI. Of the Training of Black Men
VII. Of the Black Belt
VIII. Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece
IX. Of the Sons of Master and Man
X. Of the Faith of the Fathers
XI. Of the Passing of the First-Born
XII. Of Alexander Crummell
XIII. Of the Coming of John
XIV. Of the Sorrow Songs

The Afterthought
Notes by Monica M. Elbert

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868–1963) was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in 1868. He attended public schools there prior to attending Fisk University, where he received his BA degree in 1888. Thereafter he received a second BA degree, and an MA and PhD from Harvard. He studied at the University of Berlin as well. He taught at Wilberforce University and the University of Pennsylvania before going to Atlanta University in 1897, where he taught for many years. A sociologist, historian, poet, and writer of several novels, Du Bois was one of the main founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was a lifelong critic of American society and an advocate of black people against racial injustice. He spent his last years in Ghana, where he died in exile at the age of ninety-five. View titles by W. E. B. Du Bois

About

The landmark book about being black in America, now in an expanded edition commemorating the 150th anniversary of W. E. B. Du Bois’s birth and featuring a new introduction by Ibram X. Kendi, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist, and cover art by Kadir Nelson
 
“The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.”
 
When The Souls of Black Folk was first published in 1903, it had a galvanizing effect on the conversation about race in America—and it remains both a touchstone in the literature of African America and a beacon in the fight for civil rights. Believing that one can know the “soul” of a race by knowing the souls of individuals, W. E. B. Du Bois combines history and stirring autobiography to reflect on the magnitude of American racism and to chart a path forward against oppression, and introduces the now-famous concepts of the color line, the veil, and double-consciousness.
 
This edition of Du Bois’s visionary masterpiece includes two additional essays that have become essential reading: “The Souls of White Folk,” from his 1920 book Darkwater, and “The Talented Tenth.”

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Donald B. Gibson
Acknowledgments
Suggestions for Further Reading

THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK

The Forethought

I. Of Our Spiritual Strivings
II. Of the Dawn of Freedom
III. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others
IV. Of the Meaning of Progress
V. Of the Wings of Atalanta
VI. Of the Training of Black Men
VII. Of the Black Belt
VIII. Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece
IX. Of the Sons of Master and Man
X. Of the Faith of the Fathers
XI. Of the Passing of the First-Born
XII. Of Alexander Crummell
XIII. Of the Coming of John
XIV. Of the Sorrow Songs

The Afterthought
Notes by Monica M. Elbert

Author

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868–1963) was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in 1868. He attended public schools there prior to attending Fisk University, where he received his BA degree in 1888. Thereafter he received a second BA degree, and an MA and PhD from Harvard. He studied at the University of Berlin as well. He taught at Wilberforce University and the University of Pennsylvania before going to Atlanta University in 1897, where he taught for many years. A sociologist, historian, poet, and writer of several novels, Du Bois was one of the main founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was a lifelong critic of American society and an advocate of black people against racial injustice. He spent his last years in Ghana, where he died in exile at the age of ninety-five. View titles by W. E. B. Du Bois

Additional formats

Other books in this series

Other Books by this Author

Related Articles

Against a purple background: If Beale Street Could Talk (Deluxe Edition) 978-0-593-68898-4 The Fire Next Time 9780679601517 NOTES OF A NATIVE SON 978-0-8070-0623-8 Go Tell It on the Mountain (Deluxe Edition) 978-0-593-68897-7
Literature

Celebrating 100 years of James Baldwin

In celebration of James Baldwin, the literary legend and civil rights champion, and the centennial of his birth, we are sharing a collection of his work.   James Baldwin (1924–1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay collections Notes

Read more

Celebrating 100 years of James Baldwin

Literature
Literature

The New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

The New York Times recently published their list “100 Best Books of the 21st Century.” We are pleased to announce that there are 49 titles published from Penguin Random House and its distribution clients included in this list. Browse our collection of Penguin Random House titles here. Browse the full list from The New York

Read more

The New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

Literature
Humanities & Social Sciences General

A Monthly Update from Penguin Classics

Because what you read matters. Subscribe to the Penguin Classics Newsletter here. Black Lives Matter. Black Voices Matter. Black Stories Matter. This month we’re sharing a few of the works by Black authors we have been learning from lately. Let us know on social media the Black voices and stories you’re reading this month (we’re @PenguinClassics everywhere). Nonfiction—History: The

Read more

A Monthly Update from Penguin Classics

Humanities & Social Sciences General
Subscribe

About Higher Education

Penguin Random House Education

Penguin Random House

About Higher Education

Penguin Random House Education

Penguin Random House

Back to Top
0
    • 0
    Higher Education
    Wish List (0)