Often distorted as an era of chaos and corruption, the reality is that Reconstruction was a period of promise for multiracial democracy in the U.S. past. As a historian, I welcome any intervention to set the record straight and to educate readers.
However, this book is frustrating in its superficiality; it appears to be a commercial ploy with celebrity branding (Dana Bash).
The content isn't bad, but it could have been so much better, and for subject matter so important, the ultimate effect is offensive.
Dana Bash's photo is on the back sleeve; in the fine print, we see her "co-author" (ghost writer) listed, David Fisher. Readers who care about race and social justice may care to know that Fisher is a commercial writer for hire, who has "co-authored" tens of books, including with reviled folks such as Bill O'Reilly.
The bibliography lists some 20 secondary sources. Discriminating readers may care to know that, by my casual count, only three Black scholars are listed. Identity isn’t a guarantee or absolute key to quality, but in a situation like this, it is suggestive.
Sadly, William Dunning, a pioneer of the "Dunning School," a Jim Crow-era white supremacist take on Reconstruction is included in the bibliography, and W.E.B. Du Bois, who wrote what many historians still read as the enduring classic on Reconstruction, is not listed at all. Du Bois criticized historians like Dunning for being incapable of seeing Black Americans as fully human.
Presumably, Bash and Fisher are not in sympathy with white supremacist views. So, I would assume, they simply didn't know any better. But, the effect is harmful. To include a relic, Dunning, and not include, indeed not prioritize Du Bois, is a disgrace.
Readers can do better: Du Bois' Black Reconstruction in America (1935), or, more recently, The Stony Road, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., to name just two.
It's good that Eric Foner is listed in the bibliography, but did Bash or Fisher really read his valuable history (which is influenced by Du Bois' book)?
If you don't want to read books about Reconstruction, watch Gates' Black Reconstruction: America After the Civil War, available on PBS.
Dana Bash appears sincere and professional as a TV journalist and host. She should be more careful about what and who she signs on to. And, the folks who agree to do blurbs on books (a routine and casual practice) should take more time to evaluate the books they endorse.

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.2 (137 ratings)
Price	$22.49
Category	Americas

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