Content area
Full Text
Harlem at War: The Black Experience in vIn By Nat Brandt. (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1996. xvi, 277 pp. $28.95, ISBN 0-81560324-X.)
When an author does not know well the subject he or she is writing about, there are telltale signs; and book reviewers are on the lookout for them. Does the book add to our store of knowledge? Does the research reflect the state of the art? Does the prose reveal a confident handling of the material? To answer these questions, professional journals ask scholars to review books in their areas of expertise. When the Journal of American History asked me to review Harlem at War by Nat Brandt, I eagerly accepted. Having now read the book, I must register my disappointment, both with the book and with the Syracuse University Press for publishing it.
Nat Brandt brings a wealth of experience to the writing of popular history. He has written for television and newspapers, and he has been...