In another sterling volume of the Leaders in Action series, Stephen Mansfield here outlines the life and character of Booker T. Washington. In vivacious voice and moving magniloquence, Mansfield traces Washington's path from slavery to his founding of Tuskegee Institute. He shows the difficulties Washington surpassed in reaching his goals, and the principles that helped him make it. In the words of Washington, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succed." By this standard, Booker T. Washington was an astonishingly successful man.

Washington wrote his own autobiography, _Up From Slavery_, which must certainly not be neglected. But Mansfield's biography is also a criticial read because he includes facts that the autobiographer was too modest to mention, and he highlights wonderful aspects of Washington's character that humility prevented him from including. This biography doesn't contain the wonderful self-analysis and insight of Booker himself - but it does contain all the benefits of a third person account.

One thing I really appreciated about this book was its terrific analysis of slavery and inter-race reconciliation. Expounding Booker's opinion, Mansfield blames both whites and blacks for the problems that cropped up after the Civil War. Whites needed to repent of their brutal treatment of slaves and actually begin considering blacks more than mere animals; and blacks needed to repent of their spirit of bitterness toward their white enslavers, and begin working hard and leaving no excuse for disrespect of blacks. Too many books on reconciliation have practically advocated bitterness, hatred, and laziness when what is really needed is Washington's outlook of forgiveness and hard work. This book offers relief from such pride.

To wrap up, this is a great biography. Good history, good style, and good content. Buy it.

Then Darkness Fled is a celebration of the life of Booker T. Washinghton and tells of a man who dined with heads of state and became the first Afro-American to receive honorary degrees from Harvard and Dartmouth. Chapters survey both his achievements and his life in this lively coverage.

I am reminded by people like George Carver and Booker Washington that I have done so little, while they accomplished so very much. Besides the awe inspiring historical accounts of these two saints, the book is written with a kind of zeal that is obvious to the reader. It is obvious that the author loved writing it as much as we enjoy reading it (either that or he fakes it really well).

I have only a few books that I will make my children read (when they come of age)....this is one of them.

John Perry has delivered the goods as a researcher and biographer. In this book about two luminaries of the 20th Century, who brought the light of their torches from the 19th, we have a book that will inspire everyone. There are places where it will not leave you tearless.

Balance, honesty and contextual historicism are characteristic of Perry's work.

Most reading it will concur with this reviewer that Perry has found a niche in reminding us of those persons of sacrifice who are such a rare type of leader in this 21st century.

Take time to read this book and discover Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver whose lives transcended racial prejudice, reviling, misunderstanding and jealousy.

By a happy coincidence, I bought this at Tuskegee University, where you can see the fruits of BTW's work 100 years later. There is a lot of wisdom in this book that people could still use a century later. "Lay hold of something that will help you, and use it to help somebody else."

For a good background on Booker T. Washington that does not try to place blame (for slavery), this is the book to read. It gave a lovely story on his life, without getting into politics. The real joy of this book are the illustrations. The artist captures the essence of the time and the person in beautifully rendered paintings. While children will enjoy the "pictures" and the story, anyone will appreciate this as a wonderful art book. The artist has done another children's book that is just as beautiful as this one. Between the author and the artist, Booker T. Washington's life was captured in an unforgettable way. Look forward to seeing and reading more from both these talented people!

Booker T. leaps off the pages of this dusty volume and he is a living breathing person. His charisma and energy left me exhausted. One day he is making bricks for his college, the next he is touring New England to raise funds. His wives and friends die of exhaustion around him. I read this book by mistake. I thought it was an assignment for a class(the actual assignment was a thin biography). I took this thick and dusty volume full of footnotes on vacation to the mountains. I decided to skim it and avoid the footnotes. After the first chapter, I read every footnote and the entire volume. These are Booker's journal entries and personal papers. He literally steps out of the pages and you are totally emersed in the beginnings of Tuckaseegee and every aspect of his life. He makes the time and place as real as if you were there. I actually became exhausted by his energy and the mountain of activities he was engaged in at the time. Prior to reading this book, I was not interested in him at all. After reading it, I think he is one of history's underrated characters. This is perhaps one of the most fascinating journals I have ever read on the art of leadership.

This was an excellent work overviewing the major achievements of Booker T. Washington. Concentrating on his years at Tuskegee Institute, the authors do a good job portraying Washington's beliefs while explaining the political climate at the time. Washington's critics of the time were also acknowledged and their views represented. The book also explains what a great example Tuskegee Institute and Washington's educational ideas were for others establishing similar institutions.

Most people who have any familiarity of BTW have heard the oversimplified stereotype that he was supposedly an "Uncle Tom", etc. This shows the fallacy of that thinking. Here, BTW tells off the Governor of South Carolina in 1895 for cutting off funds for Black schools "if you think education is expensive-try ignorance!" and socks it to the Louisiana Legislature for allowing Blacks to be lynched "I heard a boy say "today I have seen a man hanged and I shall soon see one burned. Before I hear such a remark from one of my sons I would rather see him in his grave." read it, and you'll be surprised.

I liked Chris Soentpiet's magnificent books. They are very detailed. I wish I could draw like him. Out of all of the books he has strongly illustrated, the wonderful book I liked the most was More Than Anything Else. The pictures were also colorful. I liked the interesting part when the little boy drew the alphabet in the dark cold sand. This book is a book for all ages. I would like to make the time to read ALL of his super books.

Chris Soentpiet's work is exquisite!! I give his pictures 5 stars! I loved the book More Than Anything Else. In this book, the pictures come to life! Chris has a lot of talent. For example, More Than Anything Else is a story about a Booker T. Washington when he was young. It showed how badly he wanted to read. One day he sat on the sand and wrote his letters.

The book More Than Anything Else was an amazing inspiration for me. The author, Chris Soenpoeit really knew that the children that read his books will like it. Also as Mrs Sneed was reading that story, you will know that Marie Bradby put a lot of interesting words in it. But the most important thing is that it had a lot of characteristic illustrations.

Booker Washington rose to fame as a great American because of his intense understanding of the American system of government and his ability to stay focused. Booker obviously understood the impact of slavery on his race and that freedom alone was not enough in a country that did not respect that freedom. Booker's ideology coincided with that of Frederick Douglas who would have made the speech at the Atlanta Exposition, but he died earlier that year.Booker's speech was "nationalistic" as he told his listeners to be as seperate as the fingers on the hand and to cast down your buckets where you are. It appears to me that he prefered separation, and individualized education geared towards economic empowerment of the newly freed "negroes". 90% of all the black people in this country had been slaves and lived below the Mason-Dixon Line. The other 10% were free, yet not free. Tuskegee (Institute) University attests to his abilites as a monument builder. "Up From Slavery" is a story within a story. Booker T. Washinton, according to Louis Harlan was a "wizard". Even W.E.B. Dubois in his latter years, prior to joining the Communist Party began to agree with many of Washington's philosophies. Booker T. Washington was a politican and a technicrat. He got the job done.

I feel that I have met an extraordinary man of history after reading "Up From Slavery". This book is an autobiography by Professor Booker T Washington (1856-1915). He was born into the deplorable condition of genocide which bears the euphemism of "slavery". He found a way through iron will and determinism to "do a thing that the world wants done" enabling to "make a living for himself and others" through embracing the joy and love of labor. His greatest accomplishment was the founding and building of the Tuskegee Institute of Normal and Industrial Institute from a chicken shack to a school with assets of over $500,000 free from mortgage. He rose to national and international attention as the most influential African-American of his time with his famous speech calling people to "cast down your bucket where you are." People who accomplish great things are controversial, and Professor Washington was no different. Dr W E B Du Bois in "The Souls of Black Folk" wrote of Professor Washington, "His doctrine has tended to make the whites, North and South, shift the burden of the Negro problem to the Negro's shoulders and stand aside as critical and rather pessimistic spectators; when in fact the burden belongs to the nation, and the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs." During the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960's Washington's philosophy was called into question by none other than the great Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr, who wrote in his book "Why We Can't Wait", "Be content [Washington] said in effect, with doing well what the times permit you to do at all. However, this path, they soon felt, had too little freedom in its present and too little promise in its future." These are the issues that continue to develop, and will, I suspect, for some time to come. I was most impressed by the capacity for Professor Washington to forgive. Of all his impressive accomplishments, this is one that spoke to me undeniably of his courage and strength. He forgives the man who sired him, a man worthy of the title "father" only in the strict biological sense. Professor Washington writes, "Whoever he was, I never heard of his taking the least interest in me or providing in any way for my rearing. But I do not find especial fault with him. He was simply another unfortunate victim of the institution which the Nation unhappily had engrafted upon it at that time." Some contend that his attitudes were politically motivated, yet, I do not see what Professor Washington would stand to gain by forgiving the man who "fathered" him. With unblemished sincerity, he forgave his slave masters, ("man-stealers", as Frederick Douglass called them). Professor Washington wrote, "I pity from the bottom of my heart any nation or body of people that is so unfortunate as to get entangled in the net of slavery. I have long since ceased to cherish any spirit of bitterness against the southern white people on account of the enslavement of my race." He genuinely felt that he was far better off than his masters because, "the slave system on our place, in a large measure, took the spirit of self reliance and self-help out of the white people." Why would he believe this? The epitome of his life's goal was to find and do something which was valued. The very thing his masters could not do. "My old master had many boys and girls, but not one, so far as I know, ever mastered a single trade or special line of productive industry." Some may, after reading this book, still feel that Professor Washington's attitudes were politically motivated. I cannot accept that idea. I have never known any one nor do I believe it is possible to feign this level of forgiveness. It is my opinion that Professor Booker T Washington is a reflection of a love which is divine. This is one of the reasons I am so impressed with this man, and this book.

I found this to be a most amazing work. In telling the story of going from a child of slavery to the founder and president of the Tuskegee institute, Mr. Washington illustrates for us the life-lessons which can empower any individual or race in our free society today.

Namely, look to your neighbor in love, not anger; recognize the nobility in working hard for something rather than expecting charity; be willing to give yourself to a greater cause; believe that people are capable of great things and they will live up to your expectations; recognize the importance of education, not just of the mind, but of the body and soul as well; recognize that any man who provides value to the community in which he lives will be accepted and even welcomed into that community; and above all, trust in God to care for your needs.

I highly recommend this book as a testament to the positive result of thinking from a perspective of Love and Abundance rather than Anger and Scarcity. When Mr. Washington's humility is measured against his accomplishments, he becomes in my eyes one of the greatest Americans to have lived.