Reconsidering Roots: Race, Politics, and Memory (Since 1970: Histories of Contemporary America Ser.)

This wide-ranging interdisciplinary collection—the first of its kind—invites us to recon­sider the politics and scope of the Roots phenomenon of the 1970s.

Alex Haley’’s 1976 book was a publishing sensation, selling over a million copies in its first year and winning a National Book Award and a special Pulitzer Prize.

The 1977 television adaptation was more than a blockbuster miniseries—it was a galvanizing national event, drawing a record-shattering viewership, earning thirty-eight Emmy nominations, and changing overnight the discourse on race, civil rights, and slavery.