What do we still not know about Frederick Douglass, one of the most important African-American

figures of the 19th century?

David Blight will be here to discuss Frederick Douglass, Prophet of Freedom.

And how do you capture a man who has famously eluded biographers?

Bob Spitz will join us to talk about his new book, Reagan and American Journey.

Alexander Alta will give us an update from the literary world.

Plus we'll talk about what we and the wider world are reading.

This is the Book Review Podcast from the New York Times.

I'm Pamela Paul.

David Blight joins us now from New Haven, where he is a professor of American history at Yale

University.

He's the author of many books, including Race and Reunion, The Civil War and American

Memory, which won the Bancroft Prize, as well as who speaks for the Negro, American

Oracle, the Civil War, and the Civil Rights era, a slave no more, and many others.

And his new book is A Bag of Frederick Douglass, called Frederick Douglass, Prophet of Freedom.

David, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you, Pamela.

Very nice to be with you.

So this is not the first biography of Frederick Douglass.

Many biographies I'm assuming have been written.

Why did you decide to write a biography of this person whose life has not been undocumented?

Yes, not the first biography of Douglass, but I chose to take this on as a full life

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