The Black Avenger in Atlantic Culture by University of Connecticut professor Gregory Pierrot is a deeply researched exploration of an important cultural archetype: the black male redeemer, an avenger against centuries of black oppression at the hands of Europeans. Increasingly visible in popular movies like Django Unchained and series like Luke Cage, this figure exacts the kind of symbolic revenge and wields the kind of power that blacks have rarely enjoyed in the post-colonial white dominated cultures these figures occupy. It’s a fantasy steeped with psychological and political meaning and insight about racism, gender and power. In the author’s words, “This is a story about the stories men tell one” and why that matters. It’s a dense and challenging but truly fascinating book grounded in centuries of history, written largely for an academic audience but with important insights for anyone willing to take it on.