Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction

Forever Free is an excellent and detailed introduction to a new narrative about the Reconstuction period in the American South. For too long the American public has seen the Reconstruction largely through myths perpetrated by Southern Whites and given great publicity through such films as The Birth of a Nation and Gone With the Wind. Eric Foner is a prominent and leading voice in giving a more accurate account of the accomplishments of the Reconstruction and the struggles of Southern Blacks to form a government true to the principles of the American Constitution. His detailed stories of the period, its struggle for racial freedom and equality before the law, which was already losing momentum by 1876, is accompanied by images of American Blacks in the press during that time, showing how Blacks saw themselves and the general public saw them over the course of these developments. The Reconstruction was not a failed experiment. This book shows in words and pictures how the period laid the groundwork (in such measures as introducing public education to the South)for later positive developments in freedom for all Americans regardless of race.

This should be required reading for everyone. This is crucial reading for anyone doing justice, community development, or anti-racism work. Or even just someone who’s trying to explain systemic racism to their family members. Highly recommend.

As mentioned in some of the other reviews, this book is for a general audience--albeit an educated one. Foner is a proven researcher and writer, but it seems that sometimes he tosses objectivity to the wind and is cheerleading. He should know better. Also, the book would have been better if he had refrained from using neo-racist terminology. If black people are African-American, then white people are European-American. This is so obvious that it should not need to be stated.

As usual, Eric Foner explains the Reconstruction Era in great detail with excellent descriptions of events, laws, and responses of politicians, southern landowners, and freedmen. I especially enjoyed reading about statesmen such as Thaddeus Stevens, as well as other men, who really tried to create pathways to reconstruction.

This book provides a comprehensive but very approachable recounting of the Reconstruction Era, and challenges the silent compromises we have made as a nation since the failure or those possibilities.

Great book that really helps the reader understand the realities of slavery and abolition and gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of enslaved people.

Nothing astounding here a standard historical text, not quite a text book information is packaged more by concept then specific chronology. If you have read Foner's other texts on this time period, you will find it somewhat repetitive. The things that stand out in Forever Free are the illustrations, photographs, and "visual essays." The visual essays add glimpses into the true cultural climate going a bit deeper than the rest of the text

This is a rehash of Foner's earlier books on Reconstruction. Nothing new there, except that his Marxism is finally out of the closet. (His main criticism of Reconstruction is that it was not seized as an opportunity for land redistribution and the introduction of socialism in the US). The alternating chapters on photos by Joshua Brown are, in pleasant contrast, fascinating, new and well-done. Foner chapters: 0 stars; Brown chapters: 5 stars; thus average rating.

This terrific if often harrowing book sets out the long road to freedom of opportunity and respect. The right and the opportunity to vote has been hard to achieve and in my understanding of the Right in the US today, is under attack again. Still I have to hope and believe that right, not The Right, will triumph in the end.

Très intéressant et pas du tout ennuyeux, parfait pour ceux qui préparent l'agrégation d'anglais. Cela se lit aussi facilement qu'un roman.Il y a de nombreuses illustrations.

As many US customers correctly say, this is a very informative book by which you can understand easily how black people there suffered and emancipated themselves. The history is narrated chronologically and lots of interesting episodes are inserted in places.Highly recommendable but there are some points you should pay attention to.1. Letters are so small that you may have trouble when reading especially you are over fifty and suffering presbyopia.2. There are many pictures printed which are good for readers’ easy and proper understanding of the events but they may seem sort of childish for adults.3. If you are well-read about black people’s history in the US, you might feel the importance of the amendments to the Constitution has not been analyzed thoroughly.From a different perspective, these things above can be good points at the same time, needless to say, so please don’t hesitate to take this.