The Warmth of Other Suns The Warmth of Other Suns

The Warmth of Other Suns

The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

    • 4.3 • 1.3K Ratings
    • $13.99
    • $13.99

Publisher Description

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this beautifully written masterwork, the Pulitzer Prize–winnner and bestselling author of Caste chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.

“Profound, necessary and an absolute delight to read.” —Toni Morrison


From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.
 
With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success and, in old age, voted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senate seat; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights, saw his family fall, and finally found peace in God; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical career, the personal physician to Ray Charles as part of a glitteringly successful medical career, which allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties.

Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous and exhausting cross-country trips by car and train and their new lives in colonies that grew into ghettos, as well as how they changed these cities with southern food, faith, and culture and improved them with discipline, drive, and hard work. Both a riveting microcosm and a major assessment, The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration” within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is destined to become a classic.

GENRE
History
RELEASED
2010
September 7
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
640
Pages
PUBLISHER
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
9.2
MB

Customer Reviews

Blessed 1-2 ,

The Warmth of Other Suns

This book has been very insightful about the migration that I have experienced & seen in my life.

JulB62 ,

Excellent story of survival

This book is excellently written. It includes the story of four people who moved from the south where living was hard and violence against individuals occurred daily for no reason. To living in the North with its set of life challenges and the consequences of these decisions. It also includes horrifying statistics and and real life stories of those who died at the hand of very evil people. It was an enjoyable read yet very sad. I would recommend it to any who really wants to understand the history of the African American great migration.

janet s ,

Wow!! What a Great Read!!

I never thought I could be so consumed by a piece of non-fiction. I could not put it down!! The 3 characters are amazing and I admire them so!! Should be taught in school. Thank you for teaching me with such delight!!!

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