Essential reading for students of African-American history includes autobiographies of former slaves Washington and Douglass, plus Du Bois' landmark essays, which counsel an aggressive approach to civil rights.

Three African American Classics is a collection of three of the most important works of African American literature written by three authors who lived quite different lives. Frederick Douglass' life story is told in his book Narrative of Frederick Douglass' Life. Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a fugitive slave, narrates the horrors and humiliations of slavery, his emancipation, and his rise to become one of America's greatest statesmen and orators. Up from Slavery chronicles his life as a slave, his tenacious pursuit of education, his foundation of the Tuskegee Institute, which is now Tuskegee University, his work promoting educational and entrepreneurial possibilities for former slaves, and his service as a counsellor to numerous US presidents.""The dilemma of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line,"" he writes in The Souls of Black Folk. The Souls of Black Folk is a major work in the history of sociology and a cornerstone of African-American literature, written lyrically and poetically.

"Throughout his long career, Frederick Douglass cut an imposing figure, renowned as an impassioned abolitionist, a fiery writer and newspaper editor. He was a great public speaker, who became a one-man crusade for black liberation." - Robert McCrum, The Guardian. "It is difficult to think of anyone, at any time, who examined the race problem in its many aspects more profoundly, extensively, and subtly than W. E. B. Du Bois." - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "I knew that, in a large degree, we were trying an experiment--that of testing whether or not it was possible for Negroes to build up and control the affairs of a large educational institution. I knew that if we failed it would injure the whole race." ―Booker T. Washington. Three African American Classics contains three of the most significant works of African American literature by three authors who led vastly different lives. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a runaway slave, describes the horrors and humiliations of slavery, his escape, and his journey to becoming one of America's great statesmen and orators. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), born into slavery, was freed at the age of nine at the end of the Civil War. Until his first day at school he was known only by the name "Booker," but to be like all the other children, he quickly added "Washington," beginning his non-confrontational approach to self-advancement. Up from Slavery describes his childhood as a slave, his dogged pursuit of education, his founding of the Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, his work promoting educational and business opportunities for former slaves, and as an advisor to several US presidents. The Massachusetts-born, Harvard-educated W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) begins The Souls of Black Folk with the prescient phrase: "the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line." Lyrically and poetically written, The Souls of Black Folk is a seminal work in the history of sociology and a cornerstone of African-American literature. It is a profound examination of race in America, drawing on both Du Bois's academic training and his personal experience as an African American in the United States. The Souls of Black Folk has been called "the political Bible of the Negro race." This edition is set in an easy to read 11-point font.

"Throughout his long career, Frederick Douglass cut an imposing figure, renowned as an impassioned abolitionist, a fiery writer and newspaper editor. He was a great public speaker, who became a one-man crusade for black liberation." - Robert McCrum, The Guardian. "It is difficult to think of anyone, at any time, who examined the race problem in its many aspects more profoundly, extensively, and subtly than W. E. B. Du Bois." - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "I knew that, in a large degree, we were trying an experiment--that of testing whether or not it was possible for Negroes to build up and control the affairs of a large educational institution. I knew that if we failed it would injure the whole race." ―Booker T. Washington. Three African American Classics contains three of the most significant works of African American literature by three authors who led vastly different lives. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a runaway slave, describes the horrors and humiliations of slavery, his escape, and his journey to becoming one of America's great statesmen and orators. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), born into slavery, was freed at the age of nine at the end of the Civil War. Until his first day at school he was known only by the name "Booker," but to be like all the other children, he quickly added "Washington," beginning his non-confrontational approach to self-advancement. Up from Slavery describes his childhood as a slave, his dogged pursuit of education, his founding of the Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, his work promoting educational and business opportunities for former slaves, and as an advisor to several US presidents. The Massachusetts-born, Harvard-educated W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) begins The Souls of Black Folk with the prescient phrase: "the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line." Lyrically and poetically written, The Souls of Black Folk is a seminal work in the history of sociology and a cornerstone of African-American literature. It is a profound examination of race in America, drawing on both Du Bois's academic training and his personal experience as an African American in the United States. The Souls of Black Folk has been called "the political Bible of the Negro race." This edition is set in an easy to read 11-point font.

UP FROM SLAVERY The autobiography of Booker T Washington is a startling portrait ofone of the great Americans of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The illegitimate son of 'a white man and a Negro slave, Washington, a man who struggled for his education, would go on to struggle for the dignity of all his people in a hostile and alien society. THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK W.E.B. DuBois's classic is a major sociological document and one of the momentous books in the mosaic of American literature. No other work has had greater influence on black thinking, and nowhere is the African-American's unique heritage and his kinship with all men so passionately described. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EX-COLORED MAN Originally published anonymously, James Weldon Johnson's penetrating work is a remarkable human account of the life of black Americans in the early twentieth century and a profound interpretation of his feelings towards the white man and towards members of his own race. No other book touches with such understanding and objectivity on the phenomenon once called "passing" in a white society. These three narratives, gathered together in Three Negro Classics chronicle the remarkable evolution of African-American consciousness on both a personal and social level. Profound, intelligent, and insightful, they are as relevant today as they have ever been. The Autobiography of Booker T. Washington is a startling portrait of one of the great Americans of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The illegitimate son of a white man and a Negro slave, Washington, a man who struggled for his education, would go on to struggle for the dignity of all his people in a hostile and alien society.W.E.B. DuBois's classic is a major sociological document and one of the momentous books in the mosaic of American literature. No other work has had greater influence on black thinking, and nowhere is the African-American's unique heritage and his kinship with all men so passionately described.Originally published anonymously, James Weldon Johnson's penetrating work is a remarkable human accout of the life of black Americans in the early twentieth century and a profound interpretation of his feelings towards the w3hite man and towards members of his own race. No other book touches with such understanding and objectivity on the phenomenon once called "passing" in a white society.These three narratives, gathered together in Three Negro Classics, chronicle the remarkable evolution of African-American consciousness on both a personal and social level. Profound, intelligent, and insightful, they are as relevant today as they have ever been.

This original collection of quotations cites approximately 100 well-known African Americans from all walks of life, including Maya Angelou, Louis Armstrong, Muhammad Ali, Julian Bond, George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass, and Ralph Ellison.