Frederick Douglass in Context, Michael Roy, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2021

This engaging, ambitious, multidisciplinary collection examines the life and career of famous 19th-century American abolitionist and human rights leader Frederick Douglass “in a variety of geographical, political, social, cultural, intellectual, and literary contexts" (p. 4). Thirty-four prominent scholars contribute short, ground-breaking, thought-provoking chapters organized in a “a thematic rather than chronological approach" (p. 3), covering activism, politics, law, abolitionism, women’s rights, the Civil War, Reconstruction, education, religion, philosophy, art, literature, science and technology, Douglass’s residences, and more. Edited and introduced by Roy (Paris Nanterre Univ., France), this essential volume takes readers deep into Douglass’s world and influences. Frederick Douglass in Context is not meant to replace but rather extends the reach of works such as David Blight’s brilliant biography Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (2018), published to commemorate the bicentennial of Douglass’s birth. The bicentennial is also the subject of this book’s final essay, which ponders why, with so much global celebration of Douglass’s life that year, there was very little federal government response. Overall, this collection highlights Douglass’s belief in democratic possibilities. It should be required reading for any scholar of African American history.