The Warmth of Other Suns
Encyclopedia
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (2010) is a history book by African-American author Isabel Wilkerson
. It is about the The Great Migration
and the Second Great Migration
, the movement of blacks out of the Southern United States
to the Midwest, Northeast and West between 1915 and 1970. The book intertwines a general history and statistical analysis of the entire period, and the biographies of three persons: a sharecropper's wife who left Mississippi in the 1930's for Chicago; an agricultural worker, who left Florida for New York City in the 1940s; and a doctor who left Louisiana, in the the early 1950s for Los Angeles.
, who himself moved from the south, in the 1920s:
I was taking a part of the South
To transplant in alien soil...
Respond to the warmth of other suns
And, perhaps, to bloom.
(Nonfiction).
Other honors include:
Isabel Wilkerson
Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and the author of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration.-Biography:...
. It is about the The Great Migration
Great Migration (African American)
The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...
and the Second Great Migration
Second Great Migration (African American)
The Second Great Migration was the migration of more than 5 million African Americans from the South to the North, Midwest and West. It took place from 1941, through World War II, and lasted until 1970. It was much larger and of a different character than the first Great Migration...
, the movement of blacks out of the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
to the Midwest, Northeast and West between 1915 and 1970. The book intertwines a general history and statistical analysis of the entire period, and the biographies of three persons: a sharecropper's wife who left Mississippi in the 1930's for Chicago; an agricultural worker, who left Florida for New York City in the 1940s; and a doctor who left Louisiana, in the the early 1950s for Los Angeles.
Title
The main title of the book is taken from a poem by author Richard WrightRichard Wright (author)
Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African-Americans during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries...
, who himself moved from the south, in the 1920s:
I was taking a part of the South
To transplant in alien soil...
Respond to the warmth of other suns
And, perhaps, to bloom.
Critical reception
The book won the prestigious National Book Critics Circle AwardNational Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
(Nonfiction).
Other honors include:
- New York Times bestseller (Nonfiction, 2010)
- New York Times Best Books of the Year (2010)
- New York Times Notable Book of the Year (Nonfiction, 2010)
- Salon Book Award (Nonfiction, 2010)
- Publishers WeeklyPublishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
’s Top 10 Best Books (2010) - ALA Notable Book (2011)
- Dayton Literary Peace PrizeDayton Literary Peace PrizeThe Dayton Literary Peace Prize, which was first awarded in 2006, "is the only annual U.S. literary award recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace." Awards are given for adult fiction and non-fiction books published at some point within the immediate past year that have led...
(Non-Fiction runner-up, 2011) - Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (2011)
Editions
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, Random House (hardcover, first). ISBN 978-0679444329
- Paperback, electronic book and audiobook editions.
External links
- The Warmth of Other Suns, official book website
- Randomhouse Publisher's website, with Synopsis