The National Book Award Winner for 1991--a magisterial work that traces the history of our most cherished value. The first history of freedom from ancient to modern times, this book links the birth of freedom in primitive societies with the institution of slavery. "An extraordinary achievement . . . astonishingly wide ranging".--Boston Globe. Index. Illustrations.

In the first essay, Patterson analyzes the very latest survey data to delineate the different attitudes, behaviors, and circumstances of Afro-American men and women, dissecting both the external and internal causes for the great disparities he finds.In the second essay, Patterson focuses on the lynching of Afro-American boys and men during the decades after Reconstruction, particularly on the substantial number of cases that constituted apparent ritual human sacrifice. As no one has done before, Patterson reveals how the complex interplay between Christian sacrificial symbolism and the deep...

In this provocative new book, sociologist Orlando Patterson takes on the intractable dilemma of race in late 20th-century America. Using current demographic research, Patterson exposes common misperceptions about the lives and experiences of black and white Americans, misperceptions that are hampering the success of integration.

Through the tangled love life of one Alexander Blackman, Orlando Patterson offers up a devastating critique of middle-class pretension, turning instead to the vibrant realities of the Jamaican working class. Full of sardonic humour and social commentary, the novel looks into the dark heart of social hierarchy, colonial education and the impact both have on the individual and the many.