Release Date: February 2nd, 2020

Genre(s): Non-fiction, History

Publisher: One World

Pages: 528

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

Four Hundred Souls is a chronological history of stories of Black America over the course of four hundred years. These stories are told by ninety authors, including scholars, activists, historians, journalists, and many others who restored and redefined how we write history.

Review

I have to admit, I’ve only read a handful of history books in the past couple of years. But as I read more of them, I realize the importance of continuing to do so, as much of our history remains untaught in our curriculum. There is not only so much history that’s not a part of our dialogues, but the perspectives in which we learn them are also important to understanding our history. 

The scope that Four Hundred Souls is incredible, and so very detailed at the same time. There are many chapters featuring such deep-dives into the lives of people that are never once mentioned in textbooks, and yet their stories are crucial to understanding African American history. Over the course of the book, Four Hundred Souls also illustrates the evolution of culture and infrastructure over time. I was especially interested in the roles of religion and the evolution and adoption of it in Black communities over time. Additionally, this book demonstrates how Black communities have contributed to American institutions over time, especially in the era of slavery (such as our colleges and universities), contrasted with their lack of access to them. 

As someone that hasn’t been reading history books as often lately, Four Hundred Souls was easy to understand and accessible to readers. A big part of this is based on the structure of the books. The book features 90 writers, and each writer contributed their own section of the book to be added in chronological order. Each writer adds their own style to the passages, some even including poetry. While regular readers and history and those new to reading it alike will likely want to read this book, I find it a great pick for those normally intimidated by the scale and content of history books. 

All in all, I found Four Hundred Souls to be a must-read. From the many voices that contributed to this book to the content and perspectives that these stories tell, it sheds light on a massive portion of our history that is not often told in such detail in our classrooms. For me personally, it’s certainly gotten me interested in studying history more often, visualizing the importance of who our storytellers are, and how that impacts us today.

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