Angela Davis: An Autobiography

This is Angela Davis' Autobiography

Customer Reviews:

Don't get it twisted - A Powerful Book

By "jizzoe" - January 28, 2004

First off, for anyone who finds this book dry or boring, understand one thing: this is not pop fiction. You're not going to get neat drawn-out analogies that compares human struggle to a football game or any such nonsense. It's a very intelligent, articulate book that doesn't try to dumb down its message for the uninitiated. But it's also not rocket science. Read it with an open mind and any knowledge you may have of the 60's and 70's and you'll do just fine.What is often misunderstood is that Ms. Davis did not like the idea of a 'personal' autobiography and was very reluctant to do the book in the first place. She didn't see herself as so special or disconnected in any way from the lives of the millions of struggling people that she and her struggle sought to better. So, she wrote a 'political' autobiography. Every facet of her own life that she chose to share with us is tied in some way to that struggle to bring dignity to the masses of human beings exploited throughout... read more

This Is Our History

By County Lineman - October 2, 2006

The political autobiography was published in 1974 by Random House and reissued in 1988 and 2004.

The book is built around Davis evading police, but finally being captured in New York City and being charged with three capital offenses due to her alleged participation in an escape attempt at the Marin County Hall of Justice.

Davis then weaves her story through her 16 months in jail while awaiting trial, a world-wide campaign calling for her release and her acquittal of all charges in 1972.

It is a treasure of information from one of the most high-profile members of the revolutionary movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Davis was shaped by her travels to Cuba and concluded democracy and socialism are more compatible for freedom of the working class than democracy and capitalism.

The book does not include new material. I would be very interested in an additional chapter on when Davis and others broke from the Communist Party USA during a tumultuous... read more

A must-read American History book

By G. Ames "Freesoup" - October 18, 1999

I have so much respect for Angela Davis. She has devoted her life to the struggle for human dignity. This book shows that she is extremely intelligent, articulate, and has a beautifull soul. After growing up hearing the establishments propoganda about Ms. Davis and the people's movement, it was refreshing to read the truth about the revolution in the words of a true revolutionary.