Dick Lehr, “The Birth of a Nation” (PublicAffairs, 2014)

New Books in African American Studies · Dec 19, 2014 · 51m

Many books on film discuss the artistic aspects of movies, often as they relate to social and political events that affected the filmmakers. In his book The Birth of a Nation: How a Legendary Filmmaker and a Crusading Editor Reignited America’s Civil War (PublicAffairs, 2014), journalist/professor Dick Lehr uses a controversial film to tell a bigger story about one of the first civil rights leaders of the 20th century. Lehr presents a fascinating account of how African American journalist Monroe Trotter tried to get D. W. Griffith’s landmark film banned in Boston. He describes how the film’s…