The Martin Duberman Reader: The Essential Historical, Biographical, and Autobiographical Writings

Duberman (distinguished professor emeritus, history, CUNY Graduate Sch.; Stonewall) compiles excerpts and complete shorter pieces from many of his most thoughtful and thought-provoking writings, arranging them into four major divisions: "History," "Biography," "Memoir," and "Politics and Activism." In this volume covering over half a century of writing, Duberman addresses such wide-ranging topics as slavery in America, radicalism, gay rights, sexual identity, feminism, bioenergetics, the death of Ronald Reagan, and the complex history of the United States and Cuba, with biographies of notable social activists and luminaries within the same arc of subjects. The pieces are as entertaining as they are informative. Duberman has the rare gift of being able to condense a complexity of sources into a readable narrative. Stripped of the editorial apparatus some of them had in their original publication, the pieces make a great introduction to Duberman's larger universe of writings, while some readers will choose to seek out the original publications for the notes and references.