John Mercer Langston and the Fight for Black Freedom, 1829-65

Outstanding Book given by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in the United States.

“Provides the mirror in which to reflect Langston's brilliant, turbulent career, as well as the nation's ongoing struggle against racism. Life-and-times biography could be put to no better use.”--David W. Blight, Journal of American History

“One of the most thorough studies ever done of a nineteenth-century Black American. [It] will be the standard.”--J. M. Matthews, Choice

“Breaks new and important ground in the field of African American history. . . . [It] is both a social history of the period and the remarkable story of Langston's formative life and career as a free Black Ohioan in pre-Civil War America.”--David C. Dennard, Journal of Southern History

“A sensitive biography of a Black leader and a full-scale history of the society in which he matured and began his career."--John B. Boles, American Historical Review

“The Cheeks have masterfully performed their chief task--the transformation of autobiography into social history.”--Wilson J. Moses, Reviews in American History

“A marvel of scholarship and artistry. The general reader will be fascinated to discover the vitality of the free Black community that Langston moved and moved in.”--Joyce Appleby, author of Shores of Knowledge: New World Discoveries and the Scientific Imagination