Four Hundred Souls

A Community History of African America 1619-2019

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Summary

*THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

Four Hundred Souls is an epoch-defining history of African America, the first to appear in a generation, told by ninety leading Black voices -- co-curated by Ibram X. Kendi, author of the million-copy bestseller How To Be an Antiracist, and Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on Fire.

In chronological chapters, each by a different author and spanning five years, the book charts the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans to the present - a journey defined by inhuman oppression, visionary struggles and stunning achievements.

Contributors include some of today's leading writers, historians, journalists, lawyers, poets and activists. Together - through essays and short stories, personal vignettes and fiery polemics - they redefine America and the way its history can be told.

'A vital addition to the curriculum on race in America... Compelling' Washington Post

'A resounding history...that challenges the myths of America's past... Fresh and engaging' Colin Grant, Guardian

Reviews

An impressive and illuminating collection that rejects Blackness in America as a singular experience and instead illustrates the range of Black experiences and voices
Time, 21 Most Anticipated Books of 2021

About the authors

Ibram X. Kendi

Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is the author of many books including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and three #1 New York Times bestsellers, How to Be an Antiracist, which was also a Sunday Times bestseller; Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored with Jason Reynolds; and Antiracist Baby, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky. In 2020, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

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Keisha N. Blain

Keisha N. Blain is an award-winning historian, professor and writer. She is currently an associate professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh, the president of the African American Intellectual History Society, and an editor for the Washington Post's 'Made by History' section. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Guardian, Politico and Time. She is the author of Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom and Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America.