In prose that moves effortlessly across the page, Thomas Dyja captures the energy and accomplishments of Walter White, one of the most important and effective African American leaders of the last century.
Kenneth Robert Janken, author of Walter White: Mr. NAACP Walter White, the longtime executive secretary of the NAACP, is one of the most complex and yet fascinating characters of the black freedom struggle. While many historians have dismissed White as an opportunistic self-promoter, Thomas Dyja's elegantly written biography provides the reader with an empathetic and judicious portrait of a man who was passionately devoted to the cause of racial advancement but as an individual aspired to move beyond the limitations of race.
Manfred Berg, Curt Engelhorn Professor of American History, Heidelberg University Thomas Dyja’s gripping biography of Walter White has restored an essential American life. With impeccable research, acute sensitivity and literary grace, Dyja has restored one of the most important links in the long chain of events and causes that brought Americans, at long last, into the the bright sunshine of civil and human rights.
Ted Widmer, author of Ark of the Liberties Dyja's crisply-written biography is a fascinating, concise history of arguably the most effective civil rights leader of his time. Dyjas's timely and nimble effort identifies the gap between one person's proximity to power and a community's failure to ever actualize it—a dilemma that continues to plague civil rights leaders and by extension black America today. As the inaugural text for this new series, Walter White is an auspicious beginning for The Library of African American Biography, which will crucially introduce and familiarize future generations of readers to the most important people of the African American experience.
Devin Fergus, author of Liberalism, Black Power, and the Making of American Politics, 1965–1980 Compact, insightful . . . [an] able tribute to a boundary-smashing activist.
Kirkus
Dyja brings new light to an eclipsed but hugely important figure in the civil rights struggle.
Booklist
A useful contribution to the literature on civil rights, racial identity, and modern U.S. history.
CHOICE
Thomas Dyja has written a succinct, evenhanded, and timely analysis of the life and legacy of the blond, blue-eyed public face of the NAACP between 1931 and 1955. . . . Well researched and well written, Dyja's book makes a major contribution to civil rights scholarship, is accessible to a general audience, and should be mandatory reading for anyone born after 1954.
Journal of Southern History
Clearly organized and crisply written. . . . Dyja's study is designed to give Walter White's reputation a renewed life, so that a troubled man and his troubled career can get the attention and the respect they deserve.
The Sewanee Review
Offers a story about how certain characteristics, actions, and philosophies define a person's 'blackness' or 'whiteness.'
The Journal of African American History