In Battle for Peace

Book excerpt: W. E. B. Du Bois was a public intellectual, sociologist, and activist on behalf of the African American community. He profoundly shaped black political culture in the United States through his founding role in the NAACP, as well as internationally through the Pan-African movement. Du Bois's sociological and historical research on African-American communities and culture broke ground in many areas, including the history of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. Du Bois was also a prolific author of novels, autobiographical accounts, innumerable editorials and journalistic pieces, and several works of history. One of the most neglected and obscure books by W. E. B. Du Bois, In Battle for Peace frankly documents Du Bois's experiences following his attempts to mobilize Americans against the emerging conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. A victim of McCarthyism, Du Bois endured a humiliating trial-he was later acquitted-and faced political persecution for over a decade. Part autobiography and part political statement, In Battle for Peace remains today a powerful analysis of race in America. With a series introduction by editor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and an introduction by Manning Marable, this edition is essential for anyone interested in African American history.