Product Review

Ida B. Wells was an African American woman who achieved national and international fame as a journalist, public speaker, and community activist at the turn of the twentieth century. In this new edition Jacqueline Jones Royster sheds light on the specific events, such as the yellow fever epidemic, that spurred Wells’s progression towards activism. Wells’s role as a public figure is further explored in the newly included excerpt from Wells’s autobiography, Crusade for Justice, which focuses on a crucial moment in her campaign, her first British tour, when Wells gained leverage in pushing lynching to a higher level of attention nationally and internationally. As Wells’s writings continue to play a key role in understanding both complex race relations and peace and justice as global concepts, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases and A Red Record have been retained in the second edition. Features such as a chronology, questions for consideration, a bibliography, and an index are also included to aid students’ understanding of the historical context and significance of Ida B. Wells’s work.