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By Peniel E. Joseph

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A kaleidoscopic narrative history of 1963, the pivotal moment in America’s long civil rights movement—the year of the March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” and the assassinations of Medgar Evers and John F. Kennedy

In Freedom Season, acclaimed historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a stirring narrative history of 1963, marking it as the defining year of the Black freedom struggle—a year when America faced a deluge of political strife and violence and emerged transformed.

Nineteen sixty-three opened with the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation and ended with America in a state of mourning. The months in between brought waves of racial terror, mass protest, and police repression that shocked the world, inspired radicals and reformers, and forced the hands of moderate legislators. By year’s end the murders of John F. Kennedy, Medgar Evers, and four Black girls at a church in Alabama left the nation determined to imagine a new way forward. Alongside the stories of historical giants like James Baldwin and Martin Luther King Jr., Joseph uplifts the perspectives of less celebrated leaders like playwright Lorraine Hansberry and activist Gloria Richardson.

Over one heartbreakingly tumultuous year, America unraveled and remade itself as the world looked on. Freedom Season shows how the upheavals of 1963 planted the seeds for watershed civil rights legislation and renewed hope in the promise and possibility of freedom.

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“Through myriad fascinating characters, from James Baldwin to Malcolm X, Lorraine Hansberry to Dr. King and the Kennedy brothers, Peniel Joseph animates the tantalizing drama of a year on which the axle of history turned. Many readers will know the seminal moments of 1963. How can those of us who lived through it ever forget them? The Fire Next Time, the murder of Medgar Evers, the March on Washington, the Birmingham Church Bombing, the JFK assassination. But here, in vivid fashion, Joseph narrates the unfolding days and months of that unforgettable year in a way that makes for suspenseful reading and a compelling look back at a time of reckoning in America.”
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University
“Elegantly written and deftly argued, Freedom Season is an impressive encapsulation of the importance of 1963 in shaping the civil rights movement and its legacy. Drawing on an array of sources, acclaimed historian Peniel E. Joseph has written a captivating and compelling account that sheds new light on the dynamics of race, politics, and the law in US history.”
Keisha N. Blain, coeditor of the #1 New York Times–bestseller Four Hundred Souls
“Freedom Season is a remarkable book, shining new light on a pivotal year in our nation’s past. Joseph’s sweeping narrative makes history come alive, showing how 1963 continues to haunt and inspire America. From James Baldwin to Gloria Richardson, this is a story of bold ideas and actions that is as relevant today as ever.”
Matthew F. Delmont, author of Half American

On Sale: May 13, 2025
Page Count: 480 pages
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN-13: 9781541675896

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Peniel E. Joseph

About the Author

Peniel E. Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and distinguished service leadership professor and professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author and editor of eight award-winning books on African American history, including The Third Reconstruction and The Sword and the Shield. He lives in Austin, Texas.

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Peniel E. Joseph

About the Author