Description
The first essay, written in the form of a letter to Baldwin’s 14-year-old nephew, discusses the central role of race in American History. The second essay, which takes up the majority of the book, deals with the relations between race and religion, focusing in particular on Baldwin’s experiences with the Christian church as a youth, as well as the Islamic ideas of others in Harlem.
The two essays were first respectively published in American magazines in late 1962. They were then combined and published in book form in 1963, and in 1964 in Britain by Penguin Books. Critics greeted the book enthusiastically; it is considered, by some, as one of the most influential books about race relations in the 1960s.
