Immerse Yourself in the Captivating World of Classic Literature and Discover an Inexorable Connection with History That Transcends Time.

THE CLASSIC - Birthright BY T S Stribling

It's impossible to read classic literature and not learn about history. So much of classic literature was a product of the time it was written, and Birthright by T.S. Stribling is no exception. Set in the early 20th century, this novel took a step away from the pulp fiction adventure novels for which he was known. Instead, Stribling wrote a social critique of the discriminatory practices, social taboos, and radical laws of the American South. Though Stribling was a white author living during this time, his novel sets readers right into the Jim Crow era south, following a mixed-race Black man as he makes his way in the world.

Birthright

by T S Stribling 

Birthright (1922) is a novel by T.S. Stribling. Originally serialized in Century Magazine, the novel marked a major departure for Stribling, whose previous works had avoided serious themes altogether. Birthright was praised by black and white critics upon publication, and allowed Stribling to move his career away from genre fiction and into the pressing historical and social questions of his time. Peter is a young man with a powerful vision. After graduating from Harvard, he returns to his hometown of Hooker's Bend, Tennessee, where he gains a new understanding of the prejudices and laws that shaped his upbringing. Born into a family of mixed racial heritage, Peter has long understood the necessity of passing, which allows him to avoid violence and to further his personal interests. 

Back in the South, however, he realizes that his experiences as a student have granted him an opportunity to change his community for the better. As he attempts to educate members of the local black and white communities, his hope for the future soon turns to doubt and disillusionment. Birthright, a triumphant and tragic story of race in America, was adapted by pioneering director Oscar Micheaux into a 1924 silent film and a 1939 talkie of the same name. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of T.S. Stribling's Birthright is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

OUR MODERN COMPANION -  Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood BY Trevor Noah

Our modern companion is a memoir, a lived experience about a similarly terrible time in history set decades later and miles away from Stribling’s novel. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah is an in-depth look into the comedian’s life growing up in apartheid South Africa. Born to a white man and a black Xhosa mother, Noah’s first act in life was a crime. While this memoir is funny—Noah is a comedian after all—it tells the story of a boy born in a dangerous time and growing up in a dangerous world.

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

by Trevor Noah

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 

"Noah's childhood stories are told with all the hilarity and intellect that characterizes his comedy, while illuminating a dark and brutal period in South Africa's history that must never be forgotten."--Esquire

Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother--his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother's unconventional, unconditional love.