Click to receive personalized book recommendations daily.
Before you go...
Check Out These
Holiday Gift Ideas for Book Lovers
Go to Gift Guide
Best Seller
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
Read An Excerpt
Read An Excerpt
Read An Excerpt
Read An Excerpt

The Souls of Black Folk

Centennial Edition

Centennial Edition

By W.E.B. Du Bois

By W.E.B. Du Bois

By W.E.B. Du Bois
Introduction by David L. Lewis

By W.E.B. Du Bois
Introduction by David L. Lewis

By W. E. B. Du Bois
Introduction by Arnold Rampersad

By W. E. B. Du Bois
Introduction by Arnold Rampersad

By W.E.B. Du Bois

By W.E.B. Du Bois

By W.E.B. Du Bois

By W.E.B. Du Bois

Part of Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction Books

Part of Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction Books

Mass Market Paperback $5.95

Jun 01, 1989 | 240 Pages

Hardcover $17.95

Jan 07, 2003 | 320 Pages

Hardcover $17.00

Oct 26, 1993 | 272 Pages

Ebook $1.99

Jul 26, 2005 | 240 Pages

Ebook $2.99

Nov 01, 2000 | 320 Pages

All Formats
+
    The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
    Hardcover
    Jan 07, 2003 | 320 Pages
    See All Formats (4) +

    Paperback
    +

    Hardcover (2)
    –

    • Hardcover $17.95

      Jan 07, 2003 | 320 Pages

    • Hardcover $17.00

      Oct 26, 1993 | 272 Pages

    Ebook (2)
    +

    • Ebook $1.99

      Jul 26, 2005 | 240 Pages

    • Ebook $2.99

      Nov 01, 2000 | 320 Pages

    Buy the Ebook:

    About The Souls of Black Folk

    "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line." Thus speaks W.E.B. Du Bois in The Souls Of Black Folk, one of the most prophetic and influental works in American literature. In this eloquent collection of essays, first published in 1903, Du Bois dares as no one has before to describe the magnitude of American racism and demand an end to it. He draws on his own life for illustration, from his early experiences teaching in the hills of Tennessee to the death of his infant son and his historic break with the conciliatory position of Booker T. Washington.

    Far ahead of its time, The Souls Of Black Folk both anticipated and inspired much of the black conciousness and activism of the 1960’s and is a classic in the literature of civil rights. The elegance of DuBois’s prose and the passion of his message are as crucial today as they were upon the book’s first publication.

    About The Souls of Black Folk

    Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time

    When first published in 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk struck like a thunderclap, quickly establishing itself as a work that wholly redefined the history of the black experience in America, introducing the now famous “problem of the color line.” In decades since, its stature has only grown, and today it ranks as one of the most influential and resonant works in the history of American thought.

    This centennial edition contains a landmark Introduction by historian David Levering Lewis that brilliantly demonstrates how The Souls of Black Folk remains indispensable not only to an understanding of the history of race and democracy in America but to considerations of the future of racial and cultural comity in the twenty-first century.

    About The Souls of Black Folk

    “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” Thus speaks W.E.B. Du Bois in The Souls Of Black Folk, one of the most prophetic and influental works in American literature. In this eloquent collection of essays, first published in 1903, Du Bois dares as no one has before to describe the magnitude of American racism and demand an end to it. He draws on his own life for illustration, from his early experiences teaching in the hills of Tennessee to the death of his infant son and his historic break with the conciliatory position of Booker T. Washington.

    Far ahead of its time, The Souls Of Black Folk both anticipated and inspired much of the black conciousness and activism of the 1960’s and is a classic in the literature of civil rights. The elegance of DuBois’s prose and the passion of his message are as crucial today as they were upon the book’s first publication.

    Introduction by Arnold Rampersad


    (Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed)

    About The Souls of Black Folk

    W.E.B. Du Bois was the foremost black intellectual of his time. The Souls of Black Folk (1903), his most influential work, is a collection of fourteen beautifully written essays, by turns lyrical, historical, and autobiographical. Here, Du Bois records the cruelties of racism, celebrates the strength and pride of black America, and explores the paradoxical "double-consciousness" of African-American life. "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line," he writes, prophesying the struggle for freedom that became his life’s work.

    For the first time, the authoritative editions of works by major American novelists, poets, scholars, and essayists collected in the hardcover volumes of The Library of America are being published singly in a series of handsome and durable paperback books. A distinguished author has contributed an introduction for each volume, which also includes a detailed chronology of the author’s life and career, an essay on the choice of the text, and notes.


    From the Trade Paperback edition.

    About The Souls of Black Folk

    Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time

    “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.”  Thus speaks W.E.B. Du Bois in The Souls Of Black Folk, one of the most prophetic and influental works in American literature.  In this eloquent collection of essays, first published in 1903, Du Bois dares as no one has before to describe the magnitude of American racism and demand an end to it.  He draws on his own life for illustration, from his early experiences teaching in the hills of Tennessee to the death of his infant son and his historic break with the conciliatory position of Booker T. Washington.

    Far ahead of its time, The Souls Of Black Folk both anticipated and inspired much of the black conciousness and activism of the 1960’s and is a classic in the literature of civil rights.  The elegance of DuBois’s prose and the passion of his message are as crucial today as they were upon the book’s first publication.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Also by W.E.B. Du Bois

    The Fantasy Worlds of W.E.B. Du Bois
    The Souls of Black Folk
    John Brown
    The Souls of Black Folk
    See all books by W.E.B. Du Bois

    Also by W.E.B. Du Bois

    The Fantasy Worlds of W.E.B. Du Bois
    The Souls of Black Folk
    John Brown
    The Souls of Black Folk
    See all books by W.E.B. Du Bois

    Also by W.E.B. Du Bois

    The Fantasy Worlds of W.E.B. Du Bois
    The Souls of Black Folk
    John Brown
    The Souls of Black Folk
    See all books by W.E.B. Du Bois

    Also by W.E.B. Du Bois

    The Fantasy Worlds of W.E.B. Du Bois
    The Souls of Black Folk
    John Brown
    The Souls of Black Folk
    See all books by W.E.B. Du Bois

    Also by W.E.B. Du Bois

    The Fantasy Worlds of W.E.B. Du Bois
    The Souls of Black Folk
    John Brown
    The Souls of Black Folk
    See all books by W.E.B. Du Bois

    About W.E.B. Du Bois

    W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), writer, civil rights activist, scholar, and editor, is one of the most significant intellectuals in American history. A founding member of the NAACP, editor for many years of The Crisis and three other journals, and author… More about W.E.B. Du Bois

    About W.E.B. Du Bois

    W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), writer, civil rights activist, scholar, and editor, is one of the most significant intellectuals in American history. A founding member of the NAACP, editor for many years of The Crisis and three other journals, and author… More about W.E.B. Du Bois

    About W. E. B. Du Bois

    William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868–1963) was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in 1868. He attended public schools there prior to attending Fisk University, where he received his BA degree in 1888. Thereafter he received a second BA degree, and an… More about W. E. B. Du Bois

    About W.E.B. Du Bois

    W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), writer, civil rights activist, scholar, and editor, is one of the most significant intellectuals in American history. A founding member of the NAACP, editor for many years of The Crisis and three other journals, and author… More about W.E.B. Du Bois

    About W.E.B. Du Bois

    W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), writer, civil rights activist, scholar, and editor, is one of the most significant intellectuals in American history. A founding member of the NAACP, editor for many years of The Crisis and three other journals, and author… More about W.E.B. Du Bois

    Product Details

    Category: Nonfiction Classics | Literary Collections

    Mass Market Paperback | $5.95
    Published by Bantam Classics
    Jun 01, 1989 | 240 Pages | 4-3/16 x 6-7/8 | ISBN 9780553213362

    Category: Nonfiction Classics | Literary Collections

    Hardcover | $17.95
    Published by Modern Library
    Jan 07, 2003 | 320 Pages | 4-11/16 x 7-1/4 | ISBN 9780375509117

    Category: History | Nonfiction Classics | Literary Collections

    Hardcover | $17.00
    Published by Everyman’s Library
    Oct 26, 1993 | 272 Pages | 4-7/8 x 8 | ISBN 9780679428022

    Category: Nonfiction Classics | Literary Collections

    Ebook | $1.99
    Published by Bantam Classics
    Jul 26, 2005 | 240 Pages | ISBN 9780553901764

    Category: Nonfiction Classics | Literary Collections

    Ebook | $2.99
    Published by Modern Library
    Nov 01, 2000 | 320 Pages | ISBN 9780679641391

    People Who Read The Souls of Black Folk Also Read

    ‹ ›
    Beyond the Messy Truth
    From the Corner of the Oval
    God Save Texas
    An American Sickness
    Children of Paradise
    Gulliver's Travels
    Believer
    One Nation
    The Fourth Revolution
    The Signal and the Noise
    Words Will Break Cement
    Future Perfect
    Plutocrats
    Mugged
    The Party Is Over
    The Tyranny of Clichés
    The Penguin State of the World Atlas
    Currency Wars
    The New New Rules
    The Filter Bubble
    Walking with the Comrades
    The End of the Free Market
    Proofiness
    The Philosophy of Aristotle
    Denialism
    Off the Grid
    Wired for War
    Do the Right Thing
    Anti-Oedipus
    Nudge
    Nostromo
    The Comedians
    Catch Me If You Can
    The Portable Edmund Burke
    Measure for Measure
    The Courage to Stand Alone
    Vineland
    The Bill
    Queer and Loathing
    Mephisto
    The Penguin Gandhi Reader
    Reinventing Government
    Imaginary Homelands
    Death at an Early Age
    The Virtue of Selfishness

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Praise

    “One hundred years after publication, there is in the entire body of social criticism still no more than a handful of meditations on the promise and failings of democracy in America to rival William Edward Burghardt Du Bois’s extraordinary collection of fourteen essays.” —from the Introduction by David Levering Lewis

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    Download our Spring Fiction Sampler Now
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    TASTE img

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    LitFlash

    The eBooks you want at the lowest prices

    Read it Forward

    Read it first. Pass it on!
    First to Read

    First to Read

    Early access to Penguin Random House’s hottest new titles