Summary
A Professor of History at North Carolina A&T, Andrew Clegg has crafted a careful, balanced, and nuanced rendering of the life and times of the "Messenger of Allah," who led the Nation of Islam for more than four decades until his death in 1975.
Customer Reviews
Review this book!
Media Reviews
"This first full-length scholarly biography of Elijah Muhammad benefits greatly from interviews with the leader's family and from recently declassified FBI files on the Nation....The records of this surveillance, especially the phone tapping, reveal a complex and somewhat duplicitous Elijah Muhammad-reassuring Malcolm X of his secure role in the movement and then urging another follower to 'close Malcolm's eyes and chop off his head.' ...In all, this is both an outstanding biography and an important contribution to the history of the Nation of Islam."
-- Kirkus
"In 'An Original Man,' Claude Clegg III, professor of history at North Carolina A&T State University, gives us more information than we've every had before and new ways to think about the man whose organization bequeathed us Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan, two of the most controversial African American leaders of the 20th century. Drawing upon previously classified government documents, interviews with relatives and a wide variety of public information, Clegg set out to do what nobody else has tried to do: Make Elijah Muhammad into a flesh-and-blood person....Clegg's important book makes us reconsider Elijah Muhammad as an American entrepreneur and master of organizational politics...."
-- Los Angeles Times Book Review
Through an eclectic mix of economic self-help, metaphysics, and an elaborate home-made theology, Elijah Muhammad transformed the Nation of Islam from a marginal Midwestern sect with a few hundred adherents into a mass movement of nationwide reckoning. And while the organization he led-whether admired or defamed-has registered national name recognition, the self-proclaimed prophet of Allah has himself remained shrouded by half-truths, misperceptions and, ironically , myth. Clegg, a biographer of considerable skill, deftly sifts through these layers to present a portrait of a complex pedagogue who was capable of harboring infinite scorn for the white world at the same time that he held it to be the standard by which progress was measured....Clegg's detailed explacation of Muhammad's life is nearly flawless, Anyone seeking to understand the enduring significance of the Nation of Islam, or the rising political stock of Louis Farrakhan, should begin by reading this biography." -- William Cobb
-- Washington Post Book World
Bibliographic Details
Publisher: St Martins Pr
Published date: 1998
Size: 6 x 9.25 inches
Weight: 1.3 pounds
Publisher's Notes
Elijah Muhammad has emerged as one of the most significant black leaders of this century. Historian Claude Clegg examines Muhammad's life--his birth in 1897 in Georgia, his creation of the American Nation of Islam, his final split with Malcolm X. Clegg helps readers understand the origins of Islam and black nationalism that has helped form the consciousness of African-American society for the last half century. photos.
Other Editions
Similar books
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
by Alex Haley
An autobiography of the Black Muslim leader Malcolm X.
Malcolm X
by Jack Rummel
A biography of the Black Muslim who became a leader of a movement to unite black people throughout the world.
Roots
by Alex Haley
The monumental bestseller! Alex Haley recaptures his family's history in this drama of eighteenth-century slave Kunta Kinte and his descendants.
The Ditchdigger's Daughters
by Jo Coudert
A prominent black physician writes a memoir about her remarkable father who lived to see his dreams of a better life for his children come true. Donald Thornton urged his five daughters to seek the educational and professional opportunities that were unavailable to him in 1940s America, working two jobs to ensure their success. Now, Yvonne Thornton delivers a loving tribute to her father and celebrates her family's fulfillment of the American Dream. photos.
Up from Slavery
by Booker T. Washington
Vividly recounting Washington's life--his childhood as a slave, struggle for education, founding and presidency of the Tuskegee Institute, and meetings with the country's leaders, this book reveals the conviction he held that the black man's salvation lay in education, industriousness and self-reliance.
|
0 items in cart
Muze Inc. For personal non-commercial use only. All rights reserved. Some content for books is owned by Baker & Taylor, Inc. or its licensors and is subject to copyright and all other protections provided by applicable law.
