Book cover of Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention

Book description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History and a New York Times bestseller, the definitive biography of Malcolm X

Hailed as "a masterpiece" (San Francisco Chronicle), Manning Marable's acclaimed biography of Malcolm X finally does justice to one of the most influential and controversial figures of twentieth-century American history. Filled…

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2 authors picked Malcolm X as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This was political scientist Marable's life work, finished right before his death --  and what an accomplishment! Marable dives so deeply into and verifies previously unknown territory. Though supportive of his subject, Marable offers complex and sometimes embarrassing information with no apologies. As a result, he produces the fullest portrait of Malcolm X to date, and the best case about why both the man and his ideas matter.

The Black freedom struggle of the 1960s was by no means limited to the South, and up until his tragic assassination in early 1965, no one better captured the often bitter anger of Black Americans trapped in exploitative Northern ghettos than the eloquent Malcolm X. An ex-con who rose to prominence in the sect-like Nation of Islam (NOI), Malcolm broke from the Nation’s limiting strictures in early 1964 and blossomed as a powerful advocate of human equality, Black freedom, and a true Islamic faith before NOI gunmen ended his incredibly promising life at the tragically early age of 39. Manning…

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