How the Word Is Passed - A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
By Clint Smith

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVOURITE BOOKS OF THE YEARA NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERLONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTION'A beautifully readable reminder of how much of our urgent, collective history resounds in places all around us that have been hidden in plain sight.' Afua Hirsch, author ofand Brit(ish)Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks - those that are honest about the past and those that are not - which offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping a nation's collective history, and our own.It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving more than four hundred people. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the story of Angola, a former plantation-turned-maximum-security prison in Louisiana that is filled with Black men who work across the 18,000-acre land for virtually no pay. And it is the story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers.A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history,and How the Word Is Passedand illustrates how some of our most essential stories are hidden in plain view - whether in places we might drive by on our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth or entire neighbourhoods like downtown Manhattan, where the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women and children has been deeply imprinted.How the Word is Passedand is a landmark book that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of the United States. Chosen as a book of the year by President Barack Obama,and Theand Economist,and Time, theand New York Timesand and more, fans ofand Brit(ish)and andand Nativesand will be utterly captivated.What readers are saying aboutand How the Word is Passed:'How the Word Is Passedand frees history, frees humanity to reckonand honestly with the legacy of slavery.and We need this book.' Ibram X. Kendi, Number Oneand New York Timesand bestselling author'Anand extraordinary contributionand to the way we understand ourselves.' Julian Lucas,and New York Times Book Review'The detail and depth of the storytelling isand vivid and visceral, making historyand present and real.' Hope Wabuke,and NPR'This isn't just a work of history, it's anand intimate, active explorationand of how we're still constructing and distorting our history." Ron Charles,and The Washington Post'In re-examining neighbourhoods, holidays and quotidian sites,and Smith forces us to reconsider what we think we know about American history.'and Time'A history of slavery in this countryand unlike anything you've read before.'and Entertainment Weekly'Aand beautifully written, evocative, and timely meditation on the way slavery is commemorated in the United States.' Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author