CHILDREN OF FIRE

by Thomas C. Holt

Ordinary people don't experience history as it is taught by historians. They live across the convenient chronological divides we impose on the past. The same people who lived through the Civil War and the eradication of slavery also dealt with the hardships of Reconstruction, so why do we almost always treat them separately? In this groundbreaking new book, renowned historian Thomas C. Holt challenges this form to tell the story of generations of African Americans through the lived experience of the subjects themselves, with all of the nuances, ironies, contradictions, and complexities one might expect.

Genres: History, Race, African American, Nonfiction, American History, School

468 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2010

About the author

Professor Thomas Cleveland Holt taught at Howard University, Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan.

Reviews

[Pamela Mikita]

African American history should be required, not an elective. I don’t think we will overcome our race issues until the history is revealed to all. Very well written.

[Bookluvr7]

A school book, but an excellently written and researched history book. There was a ton of information in here that I hadn’t known before and made me understand the history of African Americans in a whole new way that I didn’t learn in school before. I’m very happy to have read this book. I wish there had been footnotes though where the information was from instead of notes because it was a bit hard for me to understand.

5/5⭐️

[Lee]

Long Read

This was a long read for me, but I'm glad I have. It was not what I expected, but better. The author took individuals who have left journal and other writings about their lives. He wove them together in primarily a chronological order as examples of the changes and reasons for the changes in lives, attitudes, experiences and possibilities for African Americans in the U. S.

[Allie Sanford]

At points, this book was very dense, and I had to read at a much slower pace to absorb everything, but it is one of the most thorough historical books I've ever read. Larger contexts are given to events like reconstruction, and the author always provides different discussions that individuals and historians have had on specific topics.