From one of the most important American writers of the twentieth century--an extraordinary history of the turbulent sixties and early seventies that powerfully speaks to contemporary conversations around racism. 
 
"It contains truth that cannot be denied." -- The Atlantic Monthly
 
In this stunningly personal document, James Baldwin remembers in vivid details the Harlem childhood that shaped his early conciousness and the later events that scored his heart with pain--the murders of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, his sojourns in Europe and in Hollywood, and his retum to the American South to confront a violent America face-to-face.