The title of the series in which this book is published is “Education, Politics and Culture” which suits the lively and politically committed content very well. Fundamentally, the book is about how a progressive educational movement aimed at facilitating smaller and more democratic urban schools in America became hijacked by the neo-conservative agenda of the Bush administration and its many powerful allies. In so doing it cannot fail to tackle the wider educational and political issues of the last eight years and their antecedents, which it does with admirable clarity and detail.   Although school size is important, the small schools movement has traditionally been more about a democratic ideology of education that rejects the mass, bureaucratised authoritarianism of many large publicly funded schools. Smaller schools potentially make it more possible to organise education in a more supportive, inclusive, egalitarian and humanitarian way. Moreover, this smaller scale is also seen to... (preview truncated at 150 words.)

Currently, there are 103 historically Black colleges and universities in the United States.  These institutions graduate roughly a fourth of all African American students.  Research tells us that Black colleges provide a nurturing learning environment that empowers students to succeed.  Although many scholars have examined the current contributions and early history of Black colleges, they have paid little attention to Black colleges in the mid-twentieth century.  In effect, historians have virtually ignored one of the most interesting and volatile periods in the life of these important institutions. In her newest book, Radicalizing the Ebony Tower: Black Colleges and the Black Freedom Struggle in Mississippi, Joy Ann Williamson examines the nation’s Black colleges against the backdrop of the Black freedom struggle of the 1950s, 60s and 70s.  What is entirely unique about Williamson’s treatment of Black colleges during this time is her emphasis on students as activists.  Whereas many historians have... (preview truncated at 150 words.)