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Roots:

The Saga of an American Family, Volume 24
Front Cover
78 Reviews
Vanguard Books, 2007 - Biography & Autobiography - 899 pages
One of the most important books and television series ever to appear, Roots, galvanized the nation, and created an extraordinary political, racial, social and cultural dialogue that hadn’t been seen since the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The book sold over one million copies in the first year, and the miniseries was watched by an astonishing 130 million people. It also won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Roots opened up the minds of Americans of all colors and faiths to one of the darkest and most painful parts of America’s past. 

Over the years, both Roots and Alex Haley have attracted controversy, which comes with the territory for trailblazing, iconic books, particularly on the topic of race. Some of the criticism results from whether Roots is fact or fiction and whether Alex Haley confused these two issues, a subject he addresses directly in the book. There is also the fact that Haley was sued for plagiarism when it was discovered that several dozen paragraphs in Roots were taken directly from a novel, The African, by Harold Courlander, who ultimately received a substantial financial settlement at the end of the case. 

But none of the controversy affects the basic issue. Roots fostered a remarkable dialogue about not just the past, but the then present day 1970s and how America had fared since the days portrayed in Roots. Vanguard Press feels that it is important to publish Roots: The 30th Anniversary Edition to remind the generation that originally read it that there are issues that still need to be discussed and debated, and to introduce to a new and younger generation, a book that will help them understand, perhaps for the first time, the reality of what took place during the time of Roots.
 

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Zero character development. - Goodreads
Dull and monotonous writing. - Goodreads
I made mental pictures of what I read. - Goodreads

Review: Roots: The Saga of an American Family

User Review  - Julie - Goodreads

I opened the cover of this book with eagerness and excitement. In fact, I informed my family I was finally reading Roots and I would be out of commission for the week! I was then greeted by 192 pages ... Read full review

Review: Roots: The Saga of an American Family

User Review  - Matt Carlton - Goodreads

I don't think I need to write too much about this story, because many others have pointed out its flaws and lavished it with praises. I'll say that I found it very information and that it was eye ... Read full review

All 71 reviews »

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No preview available - 1999
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References to this book

From other books

The essential other: a developmental psychology of the self
The essential other: a developmental psychology of the self
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References from web pages

Roots - The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME - TIME
The most watched TV drama ever, Roots reached the height of tv's ability to spur social discussion by surveying the depths of America's original sin.
www.time.com/ time/ specials/ 2007/ article/ 0,28804,1651341_1659196_1652809,00.html

Roots
Roots remains one of television's landmark programs. The twelve-hour mini-series aired on ABC from 23-30 January 1977. For eight consecutive nights it ...
www.museum.tv/ archives/ etv/ R/ htmlR/ roots/ roots.htm

Roots (TV miniseries) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's work Roots: The Saga of an American Family, his critically acclaimed but factually ...
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Roots_(TV_miniseries)

ROOTS AND BRANCHES
Roots And Branches was founded in Jan 1995 by Sherry Harris and Carol Hodges. Formed out of a sincere desire to help genealogists in the search for their ...
members.aol.com/ RebelSher1/ index.html

Kunta Kinte — Alex Haley Foundation Roots Kunta Kinte Bio
Record numbers of people today are researching their family origins. The popular interest in genealogy - the recording of descendents from some ancestor ...
www.kintehaley.org/ rootskintebio.html

Roots « Ginny’s Thoughts & Things
Assalamu alaikum, just some clarification on my initial reaction to the “Roots” controversy. Because I feel like my initialpost onthe topic seemed a bit ...
ginnysthoughts.wordpress.com/ category/ roots/

Muslim roots of the blues / The music of famous American blues ...
Early blues performers didn't recognize the music's African or Muslim roots because, by then, the songs had more fully merged with white, European music and ...
www.sfgate.com/ cgi-bin/ article.cgi?file=/ chronicle/ archive/ 2004/ 08/ 15/ INGMC85SSK1.DTL

Roots - TV.com
Roots TV Show, TV.com is your reference guide to Roots Show. Episode guide, photos, videos, cast and crew information, forums, reviews and more.
www.tv.com/ roots/ show/ 71293/ summary.html

New Statesman - Read your roots
Encounters - As a child in the 1970s, he was called Golliwog and Sambo. Kwame Kwei-Armah talks race and history with Aleks Sierz
www.newstatesman.com/ 200412060036

ALEX HALEY AND ROOTS *LINK*
Beloved to the collective of Rastafari Speaks, this is a introduction to my given opinion on Alex Haley and how it was possible for him to trace his Roots ...
www.rastafarispeaks.com/ cgi-bin/ forum/ config.pl?noframes;read=88384

About the author (2007)

Alex Haley taught himself to write during a twenty year career in the U.S. Coast Guard. After retiring, he worked as a freelance magazine writer. His first book was The Autobiography of Malcom X, on which he was collaborator and editor. Roots: The Saga of An American Family was his second book, for which he was awarded special recognition from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award committees. He also wrote A Different Kind of Christmas, and Queen, a sequel to Roots. Haley died in 1992.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Roots
TitleRoots: The Saga of an American Family, Volume 24
Roots: The Saga of an American Family, Alex Haley
AuthorAlex Haley
ContributorMichael Eric Dyson
Edition30, reprint, annotated
PublisherVanguard Books, 2007
ISBN1593154496, 9781593154493
Length899 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Biography & Autobiography / Cultural Heritage
Social Science / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies
  
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