"Pleasingly symmetrical . . . [a] mosaic of a book, which achieves the impossible on so many levels–moving from argument to fiction to argument, from theme to theme, and backward and forward in time, so smoothly."
–Slate "A wide-ranging, landmark summary of the Black experience in America: searing, rich in unfamiliar detail, exploring every aspect of slavery and its continuing legacy . . . Again and again,
The 1619 Project brings the past to life in fresh ways. . . . Multifaceted and often brilliant."
–The New York Times Book Review "The groundbreaking project from
The New York Times, which created a new origin story for America based on the very beginnings of American slavery, is expanded into a very large, very powerful full-length book."
–Entertainment Weekly "The ambitious project that got Americans rethinking our racial history–and sparked inevitable backlash–even before the reckoning that followed George Floyd's murder, is expanded into a book incorporating essays from pretty much everyone you want to hear from about the country's great topic and great shame."
–Los Angeles Times "This fall's required reading."
–Ms. "[A] groundbreaking compendium . . . These bracing and urgent works, by multidisciplinary visionaries ranging from Barry Jenkins to Jesmyn Ward, build on the existing scholarship of
The 1619 Project, exploring how the nation's original sin continues to shape everything from our music to our food to our democracy. This collection is an extraordinary update to an ongoing project of vital truth-telling."
–Esquire "By teaching how the country's history has been one of depriving the rights of one group for the gain of another, and how those marginalized worked to claim those rights for all,
The 1619 Project restores people erased from the national narrative, offering a motivating, if sobering, origin story we need to understand if we are ever going to truly achieve 'liberty and justice for all.'"
–Women's Review of Books "Those readers open to fresh and startling interpretations of history will find this book a comprehensive education."
–Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Powerful . . . This invaluable book sets itself apart by reframing readers' understanding of U.S. history, past and present."
–Library Journal (starred review) "Pulitzer winner Hannah-Jones . . . and an impressive cast of historians, journalists, poets, novelists, and cultural critics deliver a sweeping study of the 'unparalleled impact' of African slavery on American society."
–Publishers Weekly (starred review) "For any lover of American history or letters,
The 1619 Project is a visionary work that casts a sweeping, introspective gaze over what many have aptly termed the country's original sin."
–BookPage (starred review) "Readers will discover something new and redefining on every page."
–Booklist (starred review)