John Brown - Modern Library Classics Author:W.E.B. Du Bois A moving cultural biography of abolitionist martyr John Brown, by one of the most important African-American intellectuals of the twentieth century. — In the history of slavery and its legacy, John Brown looms large as a hero whose deeds partly precipitated the Civil War. As Frederick Douglass wrote: "When John Brown stretched forth his arm ... t... more »he clash of arms was at hand." DuBois's biography brings Brown stirringly to life and is a neglected classic.« less