Oscar Micheaux wrote seven novels. "The Conquest" was his first novel, and his best. If you can only purchase one book BY Oscar Micheaux, this is the best.
Prof. Jayna Brown's introduction is outstanding. Her introduction is tough but fair. The introduction places Oscar Micheaux in his historical context, as a conservative Booker T. Washington follower.
This is the first reprint of "The Conquest" that is not a facsimile copy of the original typeset edition from 1913. As a result, the lettering, font and artwork in the book are modern and elegant.
The book itself is autobiographical. But the book is about more than the struggle of one African-American. The book is also about a whole variety of topics: homesteading, railroading, rural America, and the urban vs. rural divide.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in homesteading, railroading, farming,or American history. Micheaux was one of a kind. The same thing that was said about writer George Schuyler could also be said about Oscar Micheaux:
"He woke up every morning to see which way the world was turning, and he took off in the opposite direction. He loved playing the role of the maverick."

Oscar Micheaux was born in 1884 and from childhood seemed to be driven to be different. Throughout his life he wore many professional hats; he was a successful farmer and author. But perhaps his most well known accomplishments were as a filmmaker. There is a fair amount of misinformation about Micheaux which this book clarifies and corrects. For example, he was not the first Black filmmaker; however, he was one of the most prolific Black filmmakers of his time with an impressive number of silent films and quite a few sound films. He was able to accomplish this in spite of a national recession and eventual depression, harsh and uncooperative censor boards, limited venues in which he as a Black filmmaker could show his films, financial hardship, and harsh criticism. Still Micheaux's innovative promotion skills, coupled with his tireless efforts helped him survive and continue producing films.

The most fascinating aspect of this book was the fact that many of the issues being faced by Micheaux and other filmmakers during his time are quite similar to those of filmmakers today. Debates about how it is the responsibility of African American filmmakers to produce quality work depicting African Americans only in their most positive light were perhaps more heated in the 1920's than they are today. This heated debate was a particular issue to Micheaux because much of his work included controversial themes and not so positive images of African Americans. While the masses of African Americans seemed to enjoy and support his work and the themes he discussed, the critics and intellectuals of his day often took issue with it.

This book paints a historical overview of the times in which Micheaux lived as well as broad overview of his life and accomplishments. For the most part, this book was an easy read packed with lots of information, but there were times when some of the technical jargon was difficult for a person who has not studied film to understand. Still I highly recommend this book for anyone that would like to learn more about a pioneer in Black film.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Decades before film directors Spike Lee, John Singleton or even Gordon Parks showed audiences that blacks can be more than just cut-out characters and racial punch lines, visionary film director Oscar Micheaux had made movies featuring African-American cowboys, adventurers, detectives and millionaires --- more than 70 years ago.

"The Life and Work of Oscar Micheaux" became the subject of late author Earl James Young's graduate thesis because he was an admirer of Micheaux's pioneer spirit. Micheaux was the first filmmaker to offer his audience a range and diversity of African-Americans in film. Micheaux became a controversial figure raising the ire of blacks as well as whites for filming what he wanted, not what others felt he should.

Micheaux fought an uphill battle to get his films shown. White distributors would not market films by blacks, so Micheaux was only allowed to show his films at African-American theaters. In addition, Hollywood jumped on the African-American band wagon and created African-American films superior in quality to Micheaux's and other Indy filmmakers. Micheaux stayed with it but struggled until his death in 1951.

Young dedicated his research to Micheaux life, because he understood the pain of having a gift, but lacking the opportunity to give one's all to a career. However, Young died in 1993 of a brain tumor before publishing his thesis into a book.

With the permission of Young's family, Dr. Beverly J. Robinson has edited Young's thesis into a compelling and essential book for up and coming filmmakers and movie buffs about Micheaux's 40 plus films which made him hero to some and a victim to others. "The Life and Work of Oscar Micheaux" includes a complete filmography of Micheaux's films and bios of the actors who appeared in Micheaux's films --- some such as William Fountaine and Evelyn Preer who went onto star in Hollywood productions.

Those who are troubled by academic writing may be a little put off by this book--but only just a little. Particularly in the opening pages, the authors go to great pains to make the usual postmodernist genuflections: "how can we possibly know anything?" "do we exist?" etc. Once you get past that, their reconstruction of Micheaux's career and films is wonderful. They not only reconstruct his life as an artist--in the process separating a great deal of fact from self-generated fiction--but they also reconstruct his cultural setting and the context in which his films are released. To my taste, they're a little too easy on Micheaux for his fairly reflectionist notion of cinematic realism. However, they almost convinced that I'm wrong--which is the highest compliment you can pay any work of scholarship.

How was the African American students affected by a "Myth of Inferiority? Did he agree or disagree? Why or why not?