Synopses & Reviews
A classic of American political fiction first published in 1880, a mere three years after Reconstruction officially ended,
Bricks Without Straw offers an inside view of the struggle to create a just society in the post-slavery South. It is unique among the white-authored literary works of its time in presenting Reconstruction through the eyes of emancipated slaves. As a leading Radical Republican, the author, Albion W. Tourgandeacute;e, played a key role in drafting a democratized Constitution for North Carolina after the Civil War, and he served as a state superior court judge during Reconstruction. Tourgandeacute;e worked closely with African Americans and poor whites in the struggle to transform North Carolinaandrsquo;s racial and class politics. He saw the ravages of the Ku Klux Klan firsthand, worked to bring the perpetrators of Klan atrocities to justice, and fought against what he called the andldquo;counter-revolutionandrdquo; that destroyed Reconstruction.
Bricks Without Straw is Tourgandeacute;eandrsquo;s fictionalized account of how Reconstruction was sabotaged. It is a chilling picture of violence against African Americans condoned, civil rights abrogated, constitutional amendments subverted, and electoral fraud institutionalized. Its plot revolves around a group of North Carolina freedpeople who strive to build new lives for themselves by buying land, marketing their own crops, setting up a church and school, and voting for politicians sympathetic to their interests, until Klan terrorism and the ascendancy of a white supremacist government reduce them to neo-slavery. This edition of Bricks Without Straw is enhanced by Carolyn L. Karcherandrsquo;s introduction, which sets the novel in historical context and provides an overview of Albion W. Tourgandeacute;eandrsquo;s career, a chronology of the significant events of both the Reconstruction era and Tourgandeacute;eandrsquo;s life, and explanatory notes identifying actual events fictionalized in the novel.
Review
andldquo;Albion W. Tourgandeacute;eandrsquo;s novel is a classic: a great read with some extraordinary insights into the Reconstruction era and postandndash;Civil War American race relations. The centrality of blacks in the story makes it nearly unique in the literature of the period.andrdquo;andmdash;Ira Berlin, author of Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America
Review
andldquo;A new edition of Bricks Without Straw is a major event in the ongoing task of reconstructing the literature of Reconstruction. Lawyer/novelist Albion W. Tourgandeacute;e was a tireless advocate of African American rights who criticized both North and South for the failures of Reconstruction. In her superb introduction, Carolyn L. Karcher makes a compelling case that Bricks, with its dramatic rendition of the forces undermining freedmenandrsquo;s efforts to secure economic and political independence, is Tourgandeacute;eandrsquo;s best work of fiction.andrdquo;andmdash;Brook Thomas, author of Civic Myths: A Law and Literature Approach to Citizenship
Review
andldquo;A new edition of Albion Tourgandeacute;eandrsquo;s neglected masterpiece on Reconstruction is long overdue. As Carolyn L. Karcher makes clear in her thorough and incisive introduction, Bricks Without Straw deserves to be ranked with Twainandrsquo;s Huckleberry Finn and Chesnuttandrsquo;s Marrow of Tradition as one of the most important postbellum American novels to deal with race and African American history.andrdquo;andmdash;Mark Elliott, author of Color-Blind Justice: Albion Tourgandeacute;e and the Quest for Racial Equality
Review
andldquo;Carolyn L. Karcherandrsquo;s new 2009 edition brings Tourgandeacute;eandrsquo;s underappreciated novel to life with fascinating insight into both his life and the events that spurred the production of Bricks Without Straw. Karcherandrsquo;s sweeping new introduction deftly outlines the historical markers of Tourgandeacute;eandrsquo;s experiences in the postwar South that greatly influenced the semi-fictional world illustrated in Bricks and serves as a valuable window into a period of American history steeped in violence, mystery, and cultural shame. . . . Coupled with Karcherandrsquo;s comprehensive introduction, the latest edition of Bricks Without Straw is sure to position Tourgandeacute;eandrsquo;s fourth novel among the finest literature produced concerning the allegedly Reconstructed South.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Practically speaking, students and scholars may now discover the novel without having previous familiarity with the book, whereas prior to Karcherandrsquo;s edition, one had to seek out an out-of-print copy in the library or on the Internet, as was the case for the reviewer when she began her research several years ago. . . . With the help of Karcherandrsquo;s introduction and annotations, readers will also understand Bricks Without Straw within the historical context of Reconstruction and Tourgandeacute;eandrsquo;s prolific career, thus facilitating an enhanced appreciation of novel.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Duke University Pressandrsquo; reprint of Bricks Without Straw, beautifully edited by Carolyn L. Karcher, allows us not just to engage with an unjustly neglected classic but also to ask, in the spirit of Tourgandeacute;e, broad, even iconoclastic, questions about Reconstruction historiography.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;For readers who want to know more about the history of Reconstruction, this new edition is a must. . . . Karcher has brought a great historical novel to light. It will make readers ponder how the history of the 20th century might have been different had Reconstruction been given the support it deserved.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Duke University Press has performed a public service by releasing, in an inexpensive paperback edition, a North Carolina classic: Bricks Without Straw by Albion W. Tourgee, an 1880 novel about Reconstruction in North Carolina.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Reprint of a Reconstruction-era novel by North Carolinian author Albion Tourgee, a white Republican judge, novelist, journalist, and advocate for freed slaves. This epic work documents racial conflicts and KKK violence against African Americans in NC.
Synopsis
In this classic of American political fiction, first published in 1880, a white author s portrayal of the experiences of emancipated slaves shows how Reconstruction was sabotaged by southern racists.
About the Author
“A new edition of Bricks Without Straw is a major event in the ongoing task of reconstructing the literature of Reconstruction. Lawyer/novelist Albion W. Tourgée was a tireless advocate of African American rights who criticized both North and South for the failures of Reconstruction. In her superb introduction, Carolyn L. Karcher makes a compelling case that Bricks, with its dramatic rendition of the forces undermining freedmen’s efforts to secure economic and political independence, is Tourgée’s best work of fiction.”—Brook Thomas, author of Civic Myths: A Law and Literature Approach to Citizenship“A new edition of Albion Tourgée’s neglected masterpiece on Reconstruction is long overdue. As Carolyn L. Karcher makes clear in her thorough and incisive introduction, Bricks Without Straw deserves to be ranked with Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Chesnutt’s Marrow of Tradition as one of the most important postbellum American novels to deal with race and African American history.”—Mark Elliott, author of Color-Blind Justice: Albion Tourgée and the Quest for Racial Equality“Albion W. Tourgée’s novel is a classic: a great read with some extraordinary insights into the Reconstruction era and post–Civil War American race relations. The centrality of blacks in the story makes it nearly unique in the literature of the period.”—Ira Berlin, author of Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America
Table of Contents
Acknowlegments ix
Introduction / Carolyn L. Karcher 1
Chronology 65
Bricks Without Straw 87
Annotations 433
Index 447