Forever Free: From the Emancipation Proclamation to the Civil Rights Bill of 1875

Describes how the lives of African Americans changed after the Emancipation Proclamation, looks at their participation in the Civil War, and discusses the impact of Reconstruction

Gr 7 Up--Two fine books that take African American history for young people seriously. Forever Free describes the black man's struggle to fight in the Civil War, the resistance of many Northerners to the war and especially to the draft, and the discrimination suffered by blacks once they were allowed to enter the armed forces. Henry also discusses Reconstruction, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and the overall assault on the rights African Americans had fought so hard to obtain. Promised Land sets the stage for the Civil War, bringing a new perspective to the period by detailing the role blacks played in the abolitionist and human rights movements. Familiar leaders such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass are included, but so are lesser known figures like Martin R. Delany, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Henry Bibb, and Henry Highland Garnett. King presents a detailed, but simple and clear, description of the events that led to war, ending with John Brown's execution and Abraham Lincoln's election. Both books are profusely illustrated with black-and-white period drawings and photographs. These volumes are highly informative and useful, especially since they make a decided effort to present history from the black perspective.

Carol Jones Collins, Montclair Kimberley Academy, NJ

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