Acclaim for Geoffrey C. Ward’s

U N F O R G I V A B L E
B L A C K N E S S

“Deftly chronicled…. Unforgivable Blackness is engrossing and, at times, disturbing.”

—BusinessWeek

“[A] rousing, encyclopedic narrative.”

—The Nation

“Richly detailed…. The story unfolds in clear, simple prose, backed by exhaustive research. It is as much about America in the early 1900s as it is about boxing.”

—The Baltimore Sun

“It’s not only a biography of America’s first black heavyweight champion but also a case study in early-twentieth-century media hysteria. On both counts, racism KO’d fairness and tolerance every time.”

—Newsday

“A compelling portrait of a man determined to transcend his limits.”

—Bookmarks Magazine

“This remarkable book is at one and the same time a rousing story, a terrific biography, and first-rate history. With immense skill, Geoffrey Ward has not only brought Jack Johnson back to life but has provided a telling window onto what it was like to be a great black athlete in early-twentieth-century America.”

—Doris Kearns Goodwin

“Geoffrey Ward’s Unforgivable Blackness is a stunning exploration of the unbelievable bigotry of whites in early-twentieth-century America.”

—David Levering Lewis, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of the two-volume biography of W. E. B. Du Bois