The first book in W. E. B. Du Bois's Black Flame trilogy, The Ordeal of Mansart, chronicles Mansart's early life during the time of Reconstruction through his involvement in black education in Atlanta. The Ordeal of Mansart offers readers a peek into African American life and struggle through the lens of Mansart's humble life.

Series Introduction: The Black Letters on the Sign ; Introduction ; I. Colonel Breckinridge Promises ; II. Tom Mansart ; III. The Colonel Breaks His Word ; IV. Manuel Mansart is Born ; V. The World and Mrs. Breckinridge ; VI. The Marriage of Betty Lou ; VII. The Education of Manuel Mansart ; VIII. John Pierce and Henry Grady ; IX. Old Dr. Baldwin and His Family ; X. The Vision of Sebastian Doyle ; XI. Mauel Graduates ; XII. Jerusalem ; XIII. Color Caste ; XIV. The Atlanta Riot ; XV. Atlanta Repents ; XVI. Black Capital ; XVII. Mauel Mansart Decides ; Postscript ; Afterword ; William Edward Burghardt Du Bois: A Chronology ; Selected Bibliography

"This set represents an invaluable assembly of the works of the pioneering African American scholar, activist, and creative genius....The introductions to the individual volumes are written by such distinguished scholars as to make those writings indispensable treasures in their own right. Recommended for all public libraries and essential for every academic institution."--Library Journal (starred review) "This set is a valuable contribution to African-American scholarship. It has the potential to introduce a new readership to the scope and breadth of a unique and seminal thinker. The works included can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issues now facing contemporary Americans....[A] breathtaking collection."--School Library Journal "The general introduction and the introductions to each of Du Bois's works form a valuable opus in their own right, as they convey the author's political and social theories and indicate the richness and development of his ideas....The realities of slavery, racism, and segregation in the United States are always at the forefront, making these works (many of them out-of-print) continually pertinent and forceful reading....This set will be an essential addition to public and college libraries."--Reference and Research Book News "This set will be vital to all large university libraries with collections in African American history and American literature."--American Reference Books Annual "Examining Du Bois's oeuvre in its totality reveals an arc to his career, swinging from the formal scholarly writing of his early years to a trenchant and trademark blend of history, memoir, and polemic....Bringing together all of DuBois's work as a whole, observes [Lawrence D. Bobo of Stanford University's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity], 'reveals the enormity of his intellect, and how it was ignored in his day."--The Chronicle of Philanthropy "W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) published 22 works during his long career, all of them contained within this impressive and painstaking collected set....the general introduction and the introductions to each of Du Bois's works form a valuable opus in their own right, as they convey the author's political and social theories and indicate the richness and development of his ideas. Du Bois's conception of race and color in America is a central theme throughout his oeuvre, beginning with his seminal Souls of Black Folk of 1903. The realities of slavery, racism, and segregation in the United States are always at the forefront, making these works (many of them out-of-print) continually pertinent and forceful reading....This set will be an essential addition to public and college libraries."--Reference and Research Book News

"This set represents an invaluable assembly of the works of the pioneering African American scholar, activist, and creative genius....The introductions to the individual volumes are written by such distinguished scholars as to make those writings indispensable treasures in their own right. Recommended for all public libraries and essential for every academic institution."--Library Journal (starred review) "This set is a valuable contribution to African-American scholarship. It has the potential to introduce a new readership to the scope and breadth of a unique and seminal thinker. The works included can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issues now facing contemporary Americans....[A] breathtaking collection."--School Library Journal "The general introduction and the introductions to each of Du Bois's works form a valuable opus in their own right, as they convey the author's political and social theories and indicate the richness and development of his ideas....The realities of slavery, racism, and segregation in the United States are always at the forefront, making these works (many of them out-of-print) continually pertinent and forceful reading....This set will be an essential addition to public and college libraries."--Reference and Research Book News "This set will be vital to all large university libraries with collections in African American history and American literature."--American Reference Books Annual "Examining Du Bois's oeuvre in its totality reveals an arc to his career, swinging from the formal scholarly writing of his early years to a trenchant and trademark blend of history, memoir, and polemic....Bringing together all of DuBois's work as a whole, observes [Lawrence D. Bobo of Stanford University's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity], 'reveals the enormity of his intellect, and how it was ignored in his day."--The Chronicle of Philanthropy "W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) published 22 works during his long career, all of them contained within this impressive and painstaking collected set....the general introduction and the introductions to each of Du Bois's works form a valuable opus in their own right, as they convey the author's political and social theories and indicate the richness and development of his ideas. Du Bois's conception of race and color in America is a central theme throughout his oeuvre, beginning with his seminal Souls of Black Folk of 1903. The realities of slavery, racism, and segregation in the United States are always at the forefront, making these works (many of them out-of-print) continually pertinent and forceful reading....This set will be an essential addition to public and college libraries."--Reference and Research Book News

Selling point: A specially commissioned introductory essay by Brent Hayes Edwards, a top scholar of English Literature at Rutgers University Selling point: A series introduction by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Selling point: An afterword by Mark A. Sanders at Emory University Selling point: An extensive chronology of W. E. B. Du Bois's life, compiled by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Terri Hume Oliver Selling point: A selected bibliography of W. E. B. Du Bois texts, including his own works, collections, bibliographies, biographies, and critical works

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He has edited several major reference works, including Dictionary of African Biography, African American Lives, Africana, and African American National Biography. In addition, he is Editor in Chief of the Oxford African American Studies Center (www.oxfordaasc.com).

Selling point: A specially commissioned introductory essay by Brent Hayes Edwards, a top scholar of English Literature at Rutgers University Selling point: A series introduction by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Selling point: An afterword by Mark A. Sanders at Emory University Selling point: An extensive chronology of W. E. B. Du Bois's life, compiled by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Terri Hume Oliver Selling point: A selected bibliography of W. E. B. Du Bois texts, including his own works, collections, bibliographies, biographies, and critical works