An engaging social history that reveals the critical role Pullman porters played in the struggle for African American civil rights. [Henry Holt and Co.]
Critic Reviews
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Favorable
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Kirkus Reviews
They may have been invisible men to their patrons, but Tye makes the case for the porters as revolutionary elements within black society.
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Favorable
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Publishers Weekly
Entertaining detail abounds.
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Favorable
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Booklist Vernon Ford
Although Tye focuses on Pullman porters and the formation of the black middle class, his analysis of class perceptions and race relations reverberates to the current day. [1 June 2004, p.1680]
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Mixed
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San Francisco Chronicle Henry Holt
What is unique to Tye's lively and original account -- and new to the subject -- is a portrayal of a special continuum linking the most influential African Americans today to the Pullman porters, leaving us to ponder the significance of small breaks, giant leaps, and these individuals who made such a difference.
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Unfavorable
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The New York Times Book Review A'Lelia Bundles
In the end, Tye's anecdotal evidence, captivating as it may be, is less than sufficient to deliver fully on his subtitle's promise.
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Unfavorable
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Washington Post Nick Salvatore
Imposed upon the narrative, however, is a narrowly constructed, misleading analysis...Tye's more specific historical analysis is also questionable.
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Unfavorable
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Chicago Tribune Leon Fink
Tye fails to offer a convincing case that the jobs or organization of the porters germinated the black middle class. For a thesis built into the book's title--but elaborated more in the introduction and conclusion than in the body of the text--he offers little more than a string of names and anecdotes. [22 Aug 2004, p.C1]
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