In the wake of the Tour de France’s fallen heroes, the story of one of history’s most legendary cyclists provides a much-needed antidote. In 1907 the world’s most popular athlete was not Cy Young or Ty Cobb. Rather, he was a black bicycle racer named Major” Taylor.In his day, Taylor became a spiritual and athletic idol. He was the fastest man in America and a champion who prevailed over unspeakable cruelty. The men who aided him were among the most colorful to emerge from the era....

A new collection of short fiction from the Edgar Award-winning author of Devil in a Blue Dress and Trouble is What I Do.With his extraordinary fiction and gripping television writing, Walter Mosley has proven himself a master of narrative tension. The Awkward Black Man collects seventeen of Mosley's most accomplished short stories to showcase the full range of his remarkable talent. Touching, contemplative, and always surprising, these st...

In this classic novel from the Harlem Renaissance, a biracial musician living in the Jim Crow era chooses to pass as white and deals with the consequences.First published in 1912, The Autobiography of an Ex–Colored Man is the story of an unnamed, light-skinned, biracial narrator born in a small Georgia town during the years following the Civil War. He knows nothing about race—until he and his Black mother move to Connecticut and an episode at his school for...

THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER"Hughley uses his trademark humor to address the stark divisions in society that stem from centuries of white supremacy." — PeopleSurrender, white people! After 400 years of white supremacy in America, a reckoning is here. These are the terms of peace–and they are unconditional. Hope you brought a sense of humor, because this is gonna sting.After ce...

A Pulitzer Prize–winning, searing account of the 1898 white supremacist riot and coup in Wilmington, North Carolina.By the 1890s, Wilmington was North Carolina's largest city and a shining example of a mixed-race community. It was a bustling port city with a burgeoning African American middle class and a Fusionist government of Republicans and Populists that included black aldermen, police officers and magistrates. There were successful black-owned businesses and an...

The renowned novelist and author of This Year You Write a Novel shares a "compact but insight-rich" guide to fiction writing ( Publishers Weekly).In his essential writing guide, This Year You Write Your Novel, Walter Mosley supplied aspiring writers with the basic tools to write a novel in one year. In this complementary follow up, Mosley guides the writer through the elements of not just any fiction writing, but the kind of writing that ...

From the man known as the father of the Harlem Renaissance comes a powerful, provocative, and affecting anthology of writers who shaped the Harlem Renaissance movement and who help us to consider the evolution of the African American in society.With stunning works by seminal black voices such as Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen, and W.E.B. DuBois, Locke has constructed a vivid look at the new negro, the changing African American finding his place in the ever shif...

A renowned King scholar pulls from the archives to present a one-of-a-kind collection that captures Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s global vision—revealing how his fight for human rights extended far beyond the U.S.Includes speeches, sermons, and previously unavailable materials.Too many people continue to think of Dr. King only as “a southern civil rights leader” or “an American Gandhi,” thus ignoring his impact on poor and oppressed people ...

Following Say It Plain, a collection of speeches that provides "a sweeping perspective on evolving issues of black identity in the struggle for equality" ( Booklist).In "full-throated public oratory, the kind that can stir the soul", Say It Plain collected and transcribed speeches by some of the twentieth century's leading African American cultural, literary, and political figures. Many of the speeches were never before ...

Essays and examples that reveal how scientists figure things out: "An excellent piece of work with lots of fascinating information." —Brian Clegg, Popular ScienceGöran Grimvall is determined to help mere mortals understand how scientists get to the kernel of perplexing problems. Entertaining and enlightening, his latest book uses examples from sports, literature, and nature—as well as from the varied worlds of science—to illustrate how scientists make sense...

Jill Homer, a newspaper editor in the isolated, soggy hamlet of Juneau, Alaska, has an outlandish ambition: Racing a mountain bike 2,740 miles from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide. Her preparation plans are equally ambitious: A 350-mile winter bicycle race on Alaska's frozen Iditarod Trail, followed by two months of focused training during a summer sojourn with her boyfriend in the Utah desert.But in the tradition of best-laid plans, Jill's dream begins to unravel the ...

The nuts and bolts of bike repair for bicycle commuters, serious cyclists, and casual ridersBike Repair & Maintenance For Dummies provides expert guidance and tips for bicyclists who are hitting the bike trail or just spinning around the neighborhood. If you have a little or a lot of experience in using tools on your bike, this book can show you how to keep your bike in top working order, from tires to handlebars, without all the technical jargon.I...