Anthonyas fascinating biography of this aworld citizen in the Black
Atlantica sheds a good deal of light on the origins of Yerganas
radical engagement in the 1930s and 1940s.a
--"Radical History Review"
aAs the title of this provocative work suggests, Max Yergan
certainly is one of the more intriguing figures of the previous
century. . . . This biography includes a particularly strong
bibliography and a detailed index.a
--Gerald Horne in the "Journal of American History"
"Beautifully written and accessible . . . "Max Yergan" is a
remarkable book which reflects prodigious and imaginative research.
It is more than a biography; it is a walk through a variety of
political and institutional movements that have substantially
shaped the history of the black world, from the United States to
South Africa."
--Robin D.G. Kelley, author of "Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical
Imagination"
aAnthony has done an admirable job making sense of the sometimes
contradictory sources related to Yerganas life, and the scope of
his research is truly remarkable.a
--Safundi: The Journal of South African and American Studies
"The multiple lives of the man David Anthony explores in these
pages are fascinating, tragic, and remarkably little-known. The
left-to-right journeys of many white American intellectuals are
familiar, but the trajectory of this talented black man seems more
dramatic than any of them: from mentor of a key African National
Congress leader to enthusiastic backer of apartheid, from friend of
Paul Robeson and target of FBI surveillance to someone eulogized in
the "National Review," Max Yergan's odyssey through the twentieth
century is a prism through which to view anera's dreams and
conflicts on four continents."
--Adam Hochschild, author of "King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of
Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa"
"David Anthony's biography of Max Yergan and the story of Otto
Huiswoud and his comrades by Joyce Moore Turner have provided us
with deeper understanding of that complex and often contradictory
history that has been the African-American relationship with the
communist movement."
--Allen Ruff, "Against the Current"
In his long and fascinating life, black activist and
intellectual Max Yergan (1892-1975) traveled on more ground--both
literally and figuratively--than any of his impressive
contemporaries, which included Adam Clayton Powell, Paul Robeson,
W.E.B. Du Bois, and A. Phillip Randolph. Yergan rose through the
ranks of the "colored" work department of the YMCA, and was among
the first black YMCA missionaries in South Africa. His exposure to
the brutality of colonial white rule in South Africa caused him to
veer away from mainstream, liberal civil rights organizations, and,
by the mid-1930s, into the orbit of the Communist Party. A mere
decade later, Cold War hysteria and intimidation pushed Yergan away
from progressive politics and increasingly toward conservatism. In
his later years he even became an apologist for apartheid.
Drawing on personal interviews and extensive archival research,
David H. Anthony has written much more than a biography of this
enigmatic leader. In following the winding road of Yergan's life,
Anthony offers a tour through the complex and interrelated
political and institutional movements that have shaped the history
of the black world from the United States to South Africa.
General
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