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Martin B. Duberman
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Paul Robeson Hardcover – February 11, 1989

by Martin Bauml Duberman (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 50 ratings
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Passionate and enormously talented, Paul Robeson lived one of the great lives of the twentieth century. Martin Duberman's classic biography is a monumental and powerfully affecting portrait of one of this century's most notable performers, political radicals, and champions of racial equality.
Drawing on a vast archive of family papers and interviews with friends and relatives as well as FBI files, Paul Robeson charts the heroic and tragic course of Robeson's life: from his early days as the son of a former slave to his rise to unprecedented international acclaim as a stage actor and singer, and from his political awakening to his downfall as a victim of McCarthyism and the efforts of the U.S. government to destroy him.
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  1. Print length
    804 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Knopf
  4. Publication date
    February 11, 1989
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.75 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0394527801
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0394527802
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For millions of white Americans in the 1930s and early '40s, Paul = Robeson's success was a symbol that the American system worked. If this son of an ex-slave, this All-American football hero and concert singer could become a stage and screen starfamous as Othello and the Emperor Jonesthen couldn't any black person rise to the highest echelons through hard work? But when Robeson turned politically active, combining black militancy with support for the Stalinist Soviet Union and his own socialist vision, white Americaand many blacks tooturned their backs on him. The FBI kept him under close surveillance; the State Department restricted his right to travel. By 1960, he was branded as a public enemy, a Soviet apologist, and forced to the sidelines in civil-rights battles. His health and spirit broken, Robeson died in 1976, his reputation in eclipse. This big, engrossing, empathetic biography by distinguished historian-playwright Duberman is a major act of cultural restoration, forcing a fresh confrontation with Robeson's often highly independent political stances as well as his artistic creativity. Relying almost entirely on letters, diaries, interviews, FBI files and other primary sources, Duberman writes about Robeson's sexual affairs with white actresses, his shaky marriage, his deliberate cultivation of the image of "natural" actor and his fear that the U.S. would inherit the colonialist systems of Great Britain and France while its leaders pursued Cold War politics with the U.S.S.R. Photographs. 50,000 first printing.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Award-winning historian Duberman here offers a monumental life-and-times biography of scholar, sportsman, singer, actor, and political activist Robeson. This splendid workthe result of seven years' careful research in dozens of public and private manuscript collections, plus interviews with more than 130 peopletells more about Robeson's place in the world than about his interior life, for he left behind few letters or diaries. Yet there is much to observe, from Robeson's family life and love affairs through his encounters with bigotry and some enlightened support to the growth of his international musical/theatrical career and its decline due to his steadfast devotion to left-wing politics. A thoroughly documented work that is required reading for anyone seeking to understand 20th-century social history in America. Bonnie Jo Dopp, District of Columbia P.L.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Knopf; First Edition (February 11, 1989)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 804 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0394527801
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0394527802
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.25 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.75 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 50 ratings

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Martin B. Duberman

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
50 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Smittyrue
5.0 out of 5 stars I received what I wanted, plus 1
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2021
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This book was a suggested reading from a very respected family member long ago. I purchased the book sometime in the 90's and over the years I kept this book as a reminder of what I wanted to be in life as well as reminder of my revered family member; however, around 2005 the book was damaged by a built in book shelf below a slow leaking window unbeknownst to me. The pages grew black mold and was damaged. The family member past away in 2021 and I was devastated by his death. All I could remember was that the book which was my first ever buy of a book in my now vast book collection was gone. I searched online but could not find the book cover I had because it was an older version. However, when I saw the option to buy from the seller with no picture of it, I took a chance. When it arrived it was the exact one I had lost but it was a plus one....it was a hard cover...I felt like my beloved Uncle had ensured I had a copy of the original version.
5 people found this helpful
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J. Bruce Dudley
5.0 out of 5 stars Martin Duberman's biography of Paul Robeson
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2012
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Historian Martin Duberman's biography of Paul Robeson is an outstanding example of narrative scholarship. The lengthy book covers every aspect of the great entertainer-activist's life and is the type of biography that an interested reader finds difficult to put down. Robeson's contribution to the cause of black civil rights, both in the U.S. and around the world, is immeasurable. The larger-than-life Robeson was a force unto himself in this respect and he was a fearless ground-breaking pioneer whose efforts led to the momentous achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr. and other better known leaders who made their mark in the 1950s and especially during the following decade.
Paul Robeson inspired these more notable civil rights leaders and was an unequaled champion of the fight for laboring people and organized labor to gain a more equitable share of the economic pie. He was truly a champion of the underdog and the economically deprived both at home in the U.S. and also those victims of European colonialism abroad. Robeson was a committed humane radical who hated injustice in all forms and spent a large part of his life working to improve the lot of the less fortunate among us.
5 people found this helpful
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Patricia M. Bugland
5.0 out of 5 stars A Duberman classic about an American icon
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2013
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This volume was also purchased as a Christmas gift for a colleague. I have had my copy since it was first published, when I was still a student of Dr. Duberman's at Lehman College, CUNY. This is my particular favorite of all his works. Robeson is well-defined here. The book is readable, beautifully paced and a comprehensive, provocative and enjoyable biography. Rereading in the 21st century only makes me even more appreciative of Robeson's life and contribution to American history; he was clearly much more than a fine entertainer, although most Americans know little of the rest of his life. Read it!
4 people found this helpful
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Christopher A. Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars The definitive biography
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2000
Duberman's biography of Robeson is excellently researched and well written. A balanced handling of the subject was not a straightforward task; Robeson rarely committed his thoughts to writing and aside from periods of depression in later life he wrote few letters. Duberman relies largely on the writing of his wife Essie, who was a meticulously diarist. As the author points out this is a dangerous strategy; Robeson and his wife had personalities which couldn't have been more different, therefore rely on her descriptions of Paul's thoughts and feelings would be suspect at best. Duberman tackles this challenge by conducting a wide range of interviews with those who knew Paul, thereby presenting a more balanced account of his emotions and motivations.
As far as the factual/chronological points are concerned, Robeson's FBI files, ironically, provides a detailed record to which Duberman refers frequently.
It is a testimony to the ruthless effectiveness of the McCarthy Communist witch hunt that a man like Robeson is not better know to recent generations in America. A linguist, actor, athlete, singer, intellectual, and humanist there are few figures in 20th century America who are his equal. The ironies of his life are striking. Robeson was valedictorian of his Rutgers class, and All-American actor, played Carnegie hall, and toured Europe in an age in which Blacks in America were denied the most basic civil rights. Had his affinity for Soviet culture and socialism not put him at odds with the America's post WWII anti-Red hysteria, Robeson would likely have been one of the giants of the Civil Rights movement. Robeson truly was a man ahead of his time - a radical in a time in which the Black elite was promoting patience and working "within the system".
Was Robeson a Communist? He certainly identified with his own idealized view of the "people's struggle" which was occurring in the Soviet Union (a view which, as Duberman describes, was often at odds with the facts.) To call Robeson a Communist in many aspects would be correct; he sympathized with the cause and was vexed that Black American soldiers would fight against the Soviet Union while at home they were denied their basic rights. But even the FBI's decades-long effort to link Robeson formally with the party met with failure. We have no evidence that Robeson a card-carrying member of the Communist Party.
Robeson's Communist leanings are a complex part of his story. When Nikita Khruschev declared to the world the crimes of Stalin's purges Robeson was undoubtedly greatly effected. However, Robeson never commented, even in private to those with whom he was intimate - we don't know what he thought or how he felt. Duberman is unable to fill in the blanks and resists the temptation to do so; he simply chronicles Robeson's subsequent decline into clinical depression and ill health.
A well written biography of one of 20th century America's most interesting figures.
38 people found this helpful
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(Used) Hardcover
5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed & well written biography
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2021
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Very detailed account of Robeson's life, and deeply informative window into twentieth century American life, music, art, racism, struggle, and politics.
2 people found this helpful
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Diane Gregory
5.0 out of 5 stars An occurance in my childhood.
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2013
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This book is the most complete accounting of a person passionate about whatever he does. I am eighty years old and my family had occasion to interact personally with Paul Robeson in 1939. The photographs are good and tell a story by themselves.
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Dextra L. Suggs
3.0 out of 5 stars Long and sometimes a bit boring
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2009
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Paul Robeson was a star on so many levels; it's hard to quantify his past triumphs in our present day world. He was an All-American collegiate athlete, Phi Beta Kappa, he went to law school; he was an actor, a singer and an activist. I think that represents an achievement for most anyone, especially and African American male in the early part of 20th century - it certainly gives present day complainers something to think about. Having said that, this book is exhaustively researched and tends to get bogged down in the minutiae making it, at times, a bit boring.
2 people found this helpful
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Sassy G.
5.0 out of 5 stars new copy, as promised, prompt delivery
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2020
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Great photos are included, comprehensive text.
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Top reviews from other countries

Eugene Onegin
5.0 out of 5 stars A Gulliver Among Lilliputians
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2006
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Paul Robeson's most celebrated stage role was Othello and reading Duberman's meticulously researched account leads one to suspect that Shakespeare himself would have found a rich seam of material in the biography of a prodigiously talented man who might have made a successful career in any number of fields from American football to singing to the Big Screen but who instead was harassed and ultimately incapacitated because he had the courage to speak out against racism and injustice across the globe and chose to do so from a Left wing perspective. Robeson made a contribution in all of those fields but his life defining decision was to engage with the political issues of his generation above all race and economic inequality: it was a choice made all the more admirable by the fact that Robeson was shielded from some (although by no means all) discrimination because of his exceptional abilities. All periods of Robeson's extraordinary life are given a detailed treatment here and the account of his recording career makes you want to dig out some of his legendary renditions of the spirituals. However, it is the political activities of the man which make the most exciting reading and in many ways his advocacy of African culture and economic as well as civil rights for black Americans as early as the 1930's mark him out as ahead of his time. Indeed, Martin Luther King was only really arriving at a similar agenda in the last few years of his life. Indeed the parallels with King are startling from a passion for women to the hero worship and mixed relations with the black press. Duberman skilfully guides us through Robeson's complex and at times uncritical relationship with the Soviet Union and his shocking victimisation at the hands of the U.S State Department and the FBI. Nonetheless, Robeson's ideas (but not his health) were undimmed and they found expression in the struggles of the 1960's and beyond.

The one great problem in writing about Robeson is the paucity of primary material created by the man himself and in the early part of the book there is an over-reliance on the archives of Essie Robeson, the formidable wife and defender of her husband's life and career. Ultimately though, the man comes alive in his work, the recollections of friends and admirers and most importantly through his thinking. It is a high compliment to Duberman to say this rich and committed book is worthy of its subject. Essential reading for all those interested in Civil Rights, Black Culture, American History or simply good biography.
11 people found this helpful
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oswald
5.0 out of 5 stars Review
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2018
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I was pleased with this purchase and would buy from this company again
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Andrew
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2014
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Very thoroughly researched but a little tedious at times.
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K R Spencer
5.0 out of 5 stars A really cheap book for such excellent quality. perfect
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2018
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Book as new .A really cheap book for such excellent quality. perfect.
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Mr. Timothy P. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars a great book about a great man
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 3, 2010
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A brilliant biography about an awe-inspiring man whose talents were extraordinary and whose personal standards were even more extraordinary. Paul Robeson was a modern man for all seasons and this book does him justice. No small feat.
3 people found this helpful
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