Souls of Black Folk

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) was one of the most important African American intellectuals of the twentieth century. Jonathan Scott Holloway is Edmund Morgan professor of history, African American studies, and American studies at Yale University.

"Jonathan Holloway introduces W. E. B. Du Bois' 1903 classic for our time, when visions of a 'post-racial' America clash with the enduring centrality of what Du Bois termed 'the problem of the color-line.' We need Du Bois now more than ever, and an edition of The Souls of Black Folk that provides the context and the catalyst for connecting Du Bois’s ideas to our present circumstances will be invaluable in my classroom and, undoubtedly, in many others."—Adam Bradley, University of Colorado, Boulder"Given that thousands of pages have been written on Du Bois and his magnum opus, it is truly remarkable that Holloway manages to convey the richness and diversity of both man and text in so short a space. The introduction does an excellent job arguing for the continued relevance of Du Bois in our contemporary 'post-racial' world."—Nico Slate, Carnegie Mellon University"W.E.B. Du Bois’ Souls of Black Folk is one of the most iconic texts of the twentieth century. But Jonathan Scott Holloway’s graceful new introduction brings Souls forward to a new generation as more than a primary source of our racial past, now serving as a scythe to help cut through the maddening claims of a post-racial present. Holloway powerfully asserts that 'a "post racial consciousness" is a false consciousness,' while DuBois’ prophetic diagnosis of a color line continues to ail the world today as much as ever before."—Davarian L. Baldwin, author of Chicago's New Negroes