About the Author

Adolph L. Reed, Jr. is a member of the Graduate Faculty of Political Science at the New School of Social Research. He has been a regular columnist for The Village Voice and a frequent contributor to The Progressive and The Nation.

Reviews

"Adolph Reed's book is quite simply brilliant. It liberates Du Bois scholarship from a host of disfiguring anachronisms. By persuasively establishing the specific intellectual context within which Du Bois worked, Reed systematically reinterprets the meaning and significance of Du Bois's most influential writings. The logic is searing, the scholarship is impeccable, and, as always with Reed, there's a bristling polemical punchline as well. Anyone who takes Du
Bois seriously must come to terms with this book."--James Oakes, CUNY Graduate Center
"[Reed's] stubborn belief in class politics, his fury at the self-satisfaction of intellectuals, and his repudiation of postmodern fashion...make him a rare tonic."--The Nation
"W. E. B. Du Bois is a towering figure of central importance in American political thought, and so he has been annexed to many positions alien to his own. Reed provides the most informed, insightful, and balanced account of Du Bois's thinking yet written, one that is profoundly illuminating for progressive thought and action on issues of racial, political, and economic equality today."--Rogers M. Smith, Yale University
"Adolph Reed's book is quite simply brilliant. It liberates Du Bois scholarship from a host of disfiguring anachronisms. By persuasively establishing the specific intellectual context within which Du Bois worked, Reed systematically reinterprets the meaning and significance of Du Bois's most influential writings. The logic is searing, the scholarship is impeccable, and, as always with Reed, there's a bristling polemical punchline as well. Anyone who takes Du
Bois seriously must come to terms with this book."--James Oakes, CUNY Graduate Center
"An extremely important contribution. Not only does Reed critically reclaim Du Bois as part of the traditions of both African American and American political thought, but he also locates Du Bois's thought and work in the dynamic changes in the political economy and racial politics of late 19th and 20th century America. Reed's book will be discussed and argued about for years, both for its provocative account of Du Bois's lifework and for its capacity to inform
not only contemporary political debate, but also contemporary political action."--Michael C. Dawson, University of Chicago
"Reed has never been a man to go with the cultural flow. At a time when too many intellectuals, both black and white, are trimming their views to the rightward and depoliticizing winds of current fashion, Reed offers a bracing defense of a radical alternative. Tough-minded and wide-ranging, this book is not merely a rigorous contextualization of Du Bois that, in challenging conventional contemporary appropriations of him, will have to be taken account of by
all serious future Du Bois interpretation. It is also a stirring call for a renewed Afro-American politics and scholarship that does not pass off covert quietism as activism and racial vindicationism as
analysis."--Charles W. Mills, University of Illinois, Chicago
"This controversial book offers more than a challenging and well- researched interpretation of the legacy of Du Bois. In its most explosive pages Reed measures present-day "public intellectuals" against the standard set by Du Bois, and it is clear that he finds the current generation wanting. This book is certain to stimulate much probing discussion and considerable soul-searching."--Wilson J. Moses, Pennsylvania State University
"Adolph Reed Jr., a deft critical theorist, does for Du Bois's intellectual career what only Reed can do, offering a rigorous critical archaeology of Du Bois's political thought."--Martin Kilson, Harvard University
"Readers familiar with Adolph Reed Jr.'s work ...expect fiery polemics defending one interpretation of American race relations against any and all rivals. They will not be disappointed. Reed...not only aims to inform us of what Du Bois really meant, he also hurls a broadside against 'vindicationism'."--The New York Times Book Review
"[Reed's] stubborn belief in class politics, his fury at the self-satisfaction of intellectuals, and his repudiation of postmodern fashion...make him a rare tonic."--The Nation
"Required reading for progressive theorists and activists engaged in breaking the thralldom of racial compromise and accommodation."--Village Voice
"...the book shows the author has done intense research and there is much merit in its contents."--Quill & Scroll
"Amply documented...the book is an important cautionary to those who lay claim to Du Bois's legacy."--Journal of Southern History
"Reed offers an insightful and engaging reevaluation of DuBois's political thinking, and the approach he takes to broaden our understanding of this particular thinker circles back, and helps expand our understanding of Afro-Americanist--and indeed, broader Americanist--intellectual trends of present."--New Politics
"...a provocative homage to one of the most influential scholar-activists this century has produced....Reed's book...must not only be read and digested, but also discussed widely--and debated vigorously."--Against the Current