W. E. B. Du Bois was a public intellectual; sociologist; and activist on behalf of the African American community. He profoundly shaped black political culture in the United States through his founding role in the NAACP; as well as internationally through the Pan-African movement. Du Bois's sociological and historical research on African-American communities and culture broke ground in many areas; including the history of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. Du Bois was also a prolific author of novels; autobiographical accounts; innumerable editorials and journalistic pieces; and several works of history.Du Bois called his epic Black Flame trilogy a fiction of interpretation. It acts as a representative biography of African American history by following one man; Manuel Mansart; from his birth in 1876 until his death. The Black Flame attempts to use this historical fiction of interpretation to recast and revisit the African American experience. Readers will appreciate The Black Flame trilogy as a clear articulation of Du Bois's perspective at the end of his life.The second book in this profound trilogy; Mansart Builds a School; opens with Mansart's election to superintendent of Negro schools in Atlanta and follows him as he ascends to the position of president of Georgia State AM College. The book provides a damning portrait of the state of education for African Americans in the south. Building upon the drama and intrigue of The Ordeal of Mansart in Du Bois's signature lyrical style; Mansart Builds a School delves into the realities of the ordinary southern black experience of the early twentieth century. With a series introduction by editor Henry Louis Gates; Jr.; and an introduction by Brent Hayes Edwards; this edition is essential for anyone interested in African American literature.
#389347 in Books Cobb Paul M 2014-07-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.40 x 1.20 x 9.30l; .0 #File Name: 0199358117360 pagesThe Race for Paradise An Islamic History of the Crusades
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Brilliant! A highly informed and riveting accounBy Bill McGlaughlinBrilliant! A highly informed and riveting account of events that took place in the Near East eight centuries ago that continue to shape our world. Paul Cobb is a unique creature — a New Englander; who studied at the University of Chicago and teaches at the University of Pennsylvania; who learned to read documents which few Western scholars of what we call 'the Crusades' that few western scholars have troubled to consult.The results of all this research turned my understanding of the rift between the European world and the east around completely.Cobb's book is deep; provocative; healing and a terrific pleasure to read!6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Seen from the other side?By JPSThe alleged originality of this book is that it claims to look at the “Crusades†from the Islamic point of view by using medieval Islamic sources. This is largely; but perhaps not entirely true. Paul Cobb has; of course; used numerous Islamic sources; but he has used them alongside the others (Latin; Byzantine; and Armenian). He has also adopted the more modern view of the Crusades; that of a period much longer and more geographically diverse than the less than two centuries during which the Latins set up principalities in the Near East.This in itself gives a lot of value to this book in several respects. It shows that the wars between Muslims and Christians and the “Reconquista†of territories lost by the latter started decades before the First Crusade. In particular; the Christians in Spain; with some help from those in France (and including some Normans) took Toledo some 14 years before the capture of Jerusalem; while Palermo; at one time one of the largest Muslim ports; fell to the Norman Hautevilles brothers some twenty seven years before. Interestingly; the author goes on well beyond AD 1291 and the fall of Acre.Since he had chosen to adopt a Muslim point of view; he ends his book with a chapter on the Ottomans; with the fall of Constantinople soon to become Istanbul and the conquest of most of the Balkans; but also with the fall of Grenada and the end of the last Muslim state in Spain.Another strongpoint is to show the impact and interactions of these events and the complex relationships between medieval Muslim states; between Christian states and between the two sets of states. Interestingly; even if not entirely originally; he clearly shows to what extent the success of the First Crusade was due to division among the Muslims themselves. He also shows that Saladin; the great hero of Islam (and for good reason) spent perhaps as much time subduing rival Moslem States than he spent actually fighting the Christians.Another interesting; but much weaker; piece are the military; cultural and economic interactions and influences. It could have been interesting; for instance; to show to what extent these conflicts influenced military architecture and to what extent trade continued; despite the conflicts; especially between the Italian Republics and North Africa and Egypt. These interactions; however; are not entirely explored and only partly discussed. Another strongpoint; however; is the author’s clear descriptions and explanations of Islamic concepts related to Jihad; a Muslim’s duties; political legitimacy; Muslim Community; Muslim law and its sources and a number of other key notions that help to create Islamic civilisation up to our daws; and to understand how Muslims at the time might have perceived “Crusadersâ€.In addition; the style is clear and rather engaging and the book is easy to read. Having praised this book; which is in fact the complement and opposite of one of John France’s books (“The Crusades and the Expansion of Catholic Christendom; 1000-1714â€); I also had a few reservations.A minor one is the existence of a couple of factual mistakes. For instance; and contrary to what the author claims; neither Kerak nor the Krak of Montreal fell to Saladin in 1182-83. They fell in 1188 and 1189; well after the disaster of Hattin (or the triumph of Hattin; from a Muslim perspective) after bitter sieges that last about a year in each case. However; Elyn; and more generally the control of the road from Egypt into Syria and Damascus along the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba; were lost in the 1170s to Saladin; allowing him to conquer his rivals in Syria and deprive the Crusader States of potential allies.A slightly more serious point is that the author has little to say about the “other Christiansâ€; starting with the Orthodox and the Byzantine Empire; and just about nothing about all the other Eastern Christians (Armenians; but also Maronites; Nestorians etc…). It would have been interesting to compare what Islamic sources had to say about them with how these sources (and the Eastern Christian sources) viewed the “Latinsâ€. This; however; was slightly out of scope and not exactly the author’s purpose; although it would have shown that the “simple†opposition between “Latins†and “Muslims†in the East is a bit simplistic.A final point is that; at times; I felt that the narrative was a bit too condensed or even rushed; presumably because of a page constraint imposed by the editor. To some extent; this is a bit of a pity; although it also means that I wanted more of it. Finally; there is a rather short annotated bibliography that the author terms a “sketch†but which contains many of the most recent titles on related topics. There are also; however; numerous endnotes that contain references with comments that are fit for anyone wanting to go further on some of the aspects that this book touches upon.Four strong stars.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. For the average reader and specialist alikeBy Bryan GibbyProfessor Paul Cobb's The Race for Paradise does what few books can -- appeal to academic specialists with detail and original sources while constructing an engaging and very interesting narrative story that informs how Mediterranean Muslim societies saw; reacted to; and adapted to the European crusades. His story is broad; beginning with Muslim-Christian conflict well before the traditional first crusade in 1095-1101. As Cobb elaborates; the tension between crusade and jihad had been ongoing for some time in places such as Sicily; Spain/Portugal; North Africa; eastern Mediterranean; long before Pope Urban II called for his holy war to retake Jerusalem. The book's final chapter take the reader past the Mamluk conquest of Acre in 1291; which marked the collapse of the Latin kingdoms in the Holy Land; to assess the rise and emergence of the Ottoman Empire; which was equally smitten with holy war as a means to expand and strengthen the Islamic world. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople and the subsequent clashes in the Balkans and Hungary set the tone for conflict in that unhappy part of Europe for five hundred years -- and it's still going.This book has many strengths; least of which is the broader view taken as described above. More importantly; Cobb explains well the particular Islamic concepts of warfare; political legitimacy; the social contract; and theology that are necessary to understand how Muslims perceived these events. (Incidentally; these same concepts operate in our time too; but there are few non-academics who understand them; so there is much to be learned about modern Islamic society and culture as well.) This context is vital to the story and well worth the time to grasp.The centerpiece of any good history is the people. There are lots of actors in Cobb's story; which gives it richness and makes it interesting. The anecdotes and stories show that civilizational differences really aren't so profound as we often assume . . . there is much continuity between societies engaged in the fundamentally similar pursuits called "life."Other useful bits: the maps are generally good; the note on Arabic names is very interesting as is the list of characters; which is also useful as a quick reference to maintain one's bearings in the narrative. The notes are remarkable for their completeness; accuracy and as a guide for future reading. I would have liked to see more in the bibliographic sketch; which is a good opportunity to see what an author thinks the state of the field is with regard to publications.So; you'll pick up this book to learn about the crusades; and you'll be rewarded with a lot more. Highly recommended.
