“A superb work. Evenhanded throughout, it tempers justifiable admiration for its subject with an awareness that [Woodson] was often his own worst enemy.”—Choice

“Woodson, ‘the only black of slave parentage to earn a Ph.D. in history,’ was a trailblazer whose lifelong concern with the promotion of African-American history caused his admirers to dub him ‘the Father of black history.’ . . . This valuable study adds to the growing number of scholarly biographies of black American intellectuals and leaders whose publication is giving much-needed depth and breadth to the study of African-American history.” —American Historical Review

“An important addition to the study of a long neglected group of thinkers who had a major impact on the political and social history of 20th-century America.”—Washington Post Book World