The Warmth of Other Suns- The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

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Web ID: 15624121

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER , NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, In this beautifully written masterwork, the Pulitzer Prize, winner 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. 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.

  • Product Features

    • Format- Paperback
    • Product dimensions- 5.5" W x 8.25" H x 0.75" D
    • Genre- Social sciences
    • Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
    • Page count- 272
    • ISBN- 9780316010801
    • Isabel Wilkerson (Author)
    • Publication Date: 10-04-2011
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Ratings & Reviews

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2 months ago
from Florida

PULITZER WINNER...AND WORTH IT!

The book is the story of the black migration and their dream of freedom and a better life in the North. Upon arrival, however, they find freedom also comes with a price. This is an important book dealing with a history, too often hidden, yet, still alive in many respects in America today. It is a worthy Pulitzer Prize winner, at times a challenging read, but one you will not forget.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 years ago
from Boston, MA

A memorable biographical epic

A memorable, non-fiction historical epic following three African American families as they migrate from the South to the North or West in the United States from the 1930s-1950s. The book is expertly written with passion and empathy so that the reader experiences the challenges and adversity each family faces. By the end of the book, you will feel like you know each family intimately. An excellent read for those who enjoy history and biography. The history and reasons behind the migration are examined throughout the book and skillfully interwoven within the non-fiction narrative.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

5 years ago
from Los Angeles

Game Changer!

I was blessed to be assigned this boom my freshman year of college. Years later I find myself still referring to lessons and thoughts provided on these pages. This book changed my perspective on history forever.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

5 years ago

Loved It

Loved it

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

5 years ago
from B&N Southpoint

The Book I Want Everyone To Read!

As a bookseller, this is one of my most recommended books. Why? Because it tells the story of The Great Migration, an overlooked epoch of American history in which black Americans left the repressive culture of the South and moved to cities north and west. Because people are increasingly eager to learn about the black experience in America, and Isabel Wilkerson is the kindest teacher one could have on this topic. Because it tells a human story of regular people living their lives through historic moments. On top of all of these elements, it's a great read. During this project, Ms. Wilkerson interviewed over 1200 people, recording the stories of Americans who underwent The Great Migration before they disappeared. It makes me wonder how many more amazing stories she has stowed away in her notes! Yet she resists the urge to fit in too much narrative, too much commentary. Instead, she focuses on the lives of three individuals, all of whom migrated from the south in separate decades. We meet Ida Mae Gladney, a wife and mother who migrated from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1930s; then George Swanson Starling, an even-tempered discontent and natural leader who fled certain persecution in Florida, escaping on the New-York bound Silver Bullet train in 1945; and, finally Robert Joseph Pershing Foster, a doctor who left Louisiana for California in the 1950s. One theologian and father, when presented with the task of explaining segregation and Jim Crow laws to his young daughters, offered this wisdom to them: “The measure of a man’s estimate of your strength...is the kind of weapons he feels that he must use in order to hold you fast in a prescribed place.” The one story told many times in The Warmth of Other Suns is about people in so many places refusing to be held fast. From page 15: “What binds these stories together was the back-against-the wall, reluctant yet hopeful search for something better, any place but where they were. They did what human beings looking for freedom, throughout history, have often done...They left.”

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

5 years ago
from Brooklyn, NY

AMAZING

Wow this book was amazing! So much history that I had heard of vaguely but never got a comprehensive recount until reading this book. You can tell the care and time Wilkerson gave to her interviewees Ida Mae Gladney, George Starling, and Robert Joseph Pershing Foster. She intermingles their personal narratives cohesively with general history of the period. As a person that generally has trouble with nonfiction, especially historical books, I was grateful for Wilkerson's well-written narrative. She is giving the facts but in a storytelling format that really encapsulates the interview style of her information gathering. My biggest takeaway from this book was the make believe line of Jim Crow laws. As a New Englander, my education on the Black south was few and far between besides the generalizations and horrors of slavery. My ignorance lead to the belief that the North was a safe haven for Black Americans fleeing slavery as well as during the Great Migration. Though the racism of the North wasn't as in-your-face as the Jim Crow South, the silent biases and internal racism of the people was even more damaging because of it's stealth. It was particularly hard to read Robert Foster's account of his drive from Monroe, LA to Los Angeles, CA. He took so much care in his appearance before walking into that hotel and the heartbreak he experienced as hotel after hotel turned him away claiming they had rented their last room was gut-wrenching (especially because you could FEEL his exhaustion in Wilkerson's recount). His hope of leaving Texas and being treated like a human being was shot down by the inherent racism of White Americans. I also particularly reacted to the account of the Clark family moving to Cicero, IL. Here was a town that was filled with recent White immigrants who were in the USA for less time than the Clark family and yet their reaction to this Black family moving in was horrendous. The mob of grandmothers and schoolchildren that threw the furniture out of the apartment window and burned up the marriage certificate and baby pictures was so touch to hear. When Wilkerson mentioned the piano, another item destroyed by the mob, that the father spent years saving up for so his daughter could play broke my heart. I listened to the audiobook of this book. Robin Miles is fantastic. She gives great inflection and character to all three protagonists and it was really easy to tell the storylines apart. Though it took me a bit to get through, the audiobook format was perfect for me to absorb this history. I highly, highly recommend.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

5 years ago
from Newburgh NY

Wonderful book, an eye opener!

Read this a few years ago and have never forgotten it. I recommend it to my friends and family all the time and especially during these turbulent times, it is the perfect book to open the eyes of people who don't understand what really went on in our "free" country.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

5 years ago
from Portland, OR

An epic on the Great Migration

I've re-read this amazing book while stuck at home during the pandemic. It leaves an indelible mark on the psyche. Ms. Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, has written an evergreen title on the Great Migration from the South to the North by black families looking for a better life. What's amazing is how the narrative embraces the reader immediately and sustains it through 600+ pages. Ms. Wilkerson focuses on three stories which is an effective way to talk about this time in American history and is the main reason, I think, why the book is an engrossing read.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com