THE GREAT WELLS OF DEMOCRACY: The Meaning of Race in American Life

Divided into three sections, "The American Dilemma," "The Retreat from Equality" and "Reconstructing Racial Politics," the latest from the author of Beyond Black and White and many other titles is nothing less than a working summary of America's history of race relations and a survey the current sociopolitical scene, from hip-hop to September 11. Marable, founding director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia, is compellingly interested in class and economic issues as more than subsets of race politics. And he maintains a surprisingly uncynical belief in the possibilities of democracy. These rare facets, and a good balance of scholarship and observation, assure the book's interest. (Jan.)