Pam M. (buttonsandbooks) reviewed The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration on + 27 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
This is a long book, but well worth the read. I couldn't put it down and I feel after reading it that I have a new perspective on this part of our nation's history.
It is so well researched and helps to put in perspective the struggles of African Americans and how those struggles relate even to our present day.
I understand why it has a wish list on PBS of over 300 people. I absolutely loved the book!
It is so well researched and helps to put in perspective the struggles of African Americans and how those struggles relate even to our present day.
I understand why it has a wish list on PBS of over 300 people. I absolutely loved the book!
Sarah B. reviewed The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
This is an awesomely written book! Wilkerson did a great job of researching this topic. I read every page and enjoyed it. It puts the subject of color in America in a new perspective for me.
Kenneth H. (Threewheeler) -
Helpful Score: 2
The first book I purchased for my Kindle. It's an excellent choice whichever medium you choose. Real stories about real people and real history. It's the telling of overcoming abuse and illegal control by one people over another, by choosing to leave instead of bloody and, undoubtably, unsuccessful rebellion. The maintenance of the existing caste system in the southern states by the use of violence and outright murder was a brutal chapter in our history. It is an ongoing struggle to learn how to treat each other in the manner that we said we would from our beginning.
Jill S. (possumhead) reviewed The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration on + 26 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is an awesome book! Tons of history told through the eyes and words of the people who lived through it. One of the best books I've ever read.
Kinyorda S. reviewed The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration on + 65 more book reviews
The topic is interesting and there are a lot of things about black history in this country that I learned in the early chapters of the book. Ms. Wilkerson deserves all the accolades for the time and energy that she put into researching and writing this book. If you like history, this book is a great read. If you are looking for a novel this is not the book for you. Even though she introduces you to several people throughout the book, it is hard to connect with the individuals on a personal level.
Alison F. (alisonf) -
Fantastic book! Well written, well researched, and entirely "readable" this book is a must read. This phenomenon of our history is rarely addressed but is so vital to understanding our country as it exists today. Despite my being somewhat comfortable with my knowledge on this topic, I learned much that was new to me.
Kelli R. (kellilee) reviewed The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration on + 66 more book reviews
As a Yankee transplant to the South who has lived in Birmingham, Alabama, for more than 15 years, I found this book fascinating. From the minute I arrived in Alabama, I was acutely aware of the race relations issues still lingering and I found myself studying the history of Alabama especially as it relates to the civil rights movement. One visit to the impressive Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and its Jim Crow installation including a "White Only" water fountain leaves a lasting impression especially when you walk out the front door and find yourself standing in front of the 16th Street Baptist Church where 4 little girls were murdered in 1963 by a church bomb. Kudos to Ms. Wilkerson and her extensive research which is so eloquently set forth in this book. If I could make this book required reading in every American middle or high school, I would. We may have come a long way since Jim Crow but we still have so far to go and this is the kind of book that opens up the important dialogue necessary between the races to keep the improvement of race relations front and center.
Cameron-Ashley H. (BigGreenChair) reviewed The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration on + 464 more book reviews
A couple times a year I select a nonfiction book for reading. 2017 brought me to The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. What an eye opening, outstanding and much-needed book. While I've always considered myself an understanding, liberal person having NOT grown up around prejudice or ever tolerated people who were--this book made me realize that whether college-degreed and liberal or not--there is NO WAY the educated white public realizes the totality of the picture Isabel Wilkerson helps us to understand. And I do mean helps us. The entire book is written in a way to help us understand. I truly appreciate that she wrote the book about the great migration. Over and over as I was reading it I was embarrassed that I didn't know all the facts, but appreciative to her that she wrote it in a way that wasn't saying 'we hate you because of this.' I was born in 1948 but was in high school in the 1960's. There is much in this book I'd never heard before and I'm sure my parents and grandparents were unaware of also. It is a large book and I had to take it slow, but it was so well written and so educational I couldn't put it down. One of the reviewers on back page said 'Profound, necessary, and an absolute delight to read.' I can't say it was a delight to read, but it was definitely profound and necessary to read.
A phenomenally well-written piece of American history, largely unknown and vitally important.
