Introduction

A very small number of books evolve into phenomena that range beyond the realm of literature. Even fewer become catalysts at the centre of events that themselves become part of history. You are holding one such book. Alex Haley's Roots is special. Both the book and the television series, which is an integral part of the Roots phenomenon, changed individual lives and helped change the broader narrative around American slavery.

A vast, epic, inter-generational novel that ranges from the 1750s to the 1970s, it is one of the most significant American books of the twentieth century. It attained this status, in part, because it offered a vision of belonging and continuity that millions of people ardently longed for. Roots exposed the open wounds of American slavery, dislocation and the loss of identity. It could not salve or bind those wounds. but it did acknowledge them, passionately and intelligently It helped empower and enable African Americans to view themselves as people with real and meaningful links to the continent from which their ancestors had been stolen. The book and television series had comparable effects on black people in the wider diaspora, becoming an inspiration to numerous artists, writers and activists. Its impact

was legendary and continues into the present day.

Roots is a great book and yet its flaws are multiple well documented. Its literary limitations were recognised from the start. More damaging by far were Alex Hal methodological errors and transgressions. Within...............