100 Amazing Facts About the Negro

When I first saw the title of this book, I was more than slightly horrified. ‘Negroes’? Who says that anymore???

You see, I was unfamiliar with the 1934 book by Joel Rogers - and this book is an updated, sharp, and timely homage to that original book. (By the way, I now want to read the original as well.)

In our updated 100 Amazing Facts About The Negro, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the author brings us 100 fascinating tidbits about blacks and their history in our modern world. Notice I said blacks - not African Americans. While there are plenty of African Americans profiled here, the book also features people from Europe, Mexico, the Middle East, and Africa – all sharing African ancestry and all impacting our world in amazing ways. Aside from specific people, you’ll also learn about exactly how much black blood the average white American may have and how much Native American blood the average African American has. You’ll earn about black saints, politicians, poets, and even a most unusual family who sailed on the Titanic – I never even heard of them before!

As well versed in history as I thought I was, I was astounded to learn of people I’d never before heard of and thoroughly enjoyed testing my family on their knowledge of some of these fascinating facts.

Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in history and culture!

Walking in the footsteps of Joel Roger and his 1934 work “100 Amazing Facts About the Negro With Complete Proof: A Short Cut to the World History of the Negro,” Gates, to put it simply, has crafted an absolutely fantastic work. Loaded from beginning to an end with a dizzying abundance of facts, stories, corrections of the historical record, and statistics that span time from the Roman Empire up to the Modern Era, there are probably very few who will be able to finish this work without having at least a score of brand new doors opened for them into the richness of black history that they’ll want to step into and explore even further (and that’s most likely quite a lowball average estimate when I consider the incredible amount that I was able to personally learn).

With its coverage of a magnificently diverse range of topics, events and figures all organized into a masterfully digestible format, this is not only an eye-opening delight, but I also believe this to be a brand new must-read for any history fan.

Gates Does Rogers Proud

Joel Rogers' 1934 book, "100 Amazing Facts About the Negro With Complete Proof...", was, as you might expect, a wildly idiosyncratic work. Henry Gates has taken the Rogers framework, has updated the "facts", and has added his own engaging, personal stamp to the project.

There is indeed much here to entertain, inform, inspire, and prompt further thought and reading. The tone is conversational rather than academic, and while the book is founded upon deep scholarship it has a very engaging and welcoming style.

The Rogers frame has its benefits but also its challenges. Since the book is set out as answers to 100 interesting questions it is necessarily a bit of a hodge podge, and the topics follow no particular order. Because some of the questions overlap there are a number of facts, events, and important moments that appear several times, in various "answers". What was interesting in 1934 may not seem quite so interesting now, and so topics about black wealthy Russians, or the black ancestry of writers like Alexandre Dumas may not resonate with a modern reader. I would also suspect that there are some academic disagreements and controversies between some of the lines, (say, for example, in the treatment of Malcolm X), but as a general reader that was not especially evident to me.

But these are small matters. The larger and more important point is that Gates has set out a feast for the interested reader. This is, at a minimum, an excellent primer on the historic outlines of slavery in the United States, an interesting treatment of Lincoln and the Civil War, and in a larger sense a proud and wide ranging celebration of both famous and little known black Americans. One can skim, browse, or read carefully and deeply - all three approaches will bring their own rewards. As I say, Gates has done a fine, fine job building upon what Joel Rogers created, and this book has earned that "Amazing" title.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I enjoyed this book and really learned some things I'd never known. I am a homeschool parent and African American and will definitely be incorporating this into my lectures this year. It was the one thing I had been needing for a long while and I'm so glad I found it in this book. I think everyone will be pleased to learn some of the things African Americans and Black people in general has gone through and our history.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. & team's update and revision to the compendium of Joel Rogers' columns in the Pittsburgh Courier.

The original intention was to provide historical information about the past accomplishments and achievements of black people throughout time. The book provides 100 different stories, many of which feature slavery and its condition, but many others about various historical figures who were of African descent and other important exploits by Africans and African-Americans.

A worthwhile exploration demonstrating that people of African descent have been active in the world and have accomplished many notable achievements throughout history.