Separate Lib/E: The Story of Plessy V. Ferguson, and America's Journey from Slavery to Segregation

A myth-shattering narrative of how a nation embraced "separation" and its pernicious consequences. Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court case synonymous with "separate but equal," created remarkably little stir when the justices announced their near-unanimous decision on May 18, 1896. Yet it is one of the most compelling and dramatic stories of the nineteenth century, whose outcome embraced and protected segregation, and whose reverberations are still felt into the twenty-first. Separate spans a striking range of characters and landscapes, bound together by the defining issue of their time and ours?race and equality. Wending its way through a half-century of American history, the narrative begins at the dawn of the railroad age, in the North, home to the nation's first separate railroad car, then moves briskly through slavery and the Civil War to Reconstruction and its aftermath, as separation took root in nearly every aspect of American life. Award-winning author Steve Luxenberg draws from letters, diaries, and archival collections to tell the story of Plessy v. Ferguson through the eyes of the people caught up in the case. Separate depicts indelible figures such as the resisters from the mixed-race community of French New Orleans, led by Louis Martinet, a lawyer and crusading newspaper editor; Homer Plessy's lawyer, Albion Tourgee, a best-selling author and the country's best-known white advocate for civil rights; Justice Henry Billings Brown, from antislavery New England, whose majority ruling endorsed separation; and Justice John Harlan, the Southerner from a slaveholding family whose singular dissent cemented his reputation as a steadfast voice for justice.

About the Author :
Donald Corren is an audiobook narrator and a New York actor with leading credits on and Off-Broadway, as well as numerous television appearances. On Broadway, he costarred with Judy Kaye in the critically acclaimed production of Souvenir, and replaced Harvey Fierstein in the seminal production of Torch Song Trilogy. His Off-Broadway appearances include The Soap Myth, Dietrich & Chevalier, The Last Sunday in June, Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night, and the original New York production of Tomfoolery. His television credits include eight seasons as forensic tech Medill on NBC's Law & Order, as well as his current role as Dr. Kurian on Syfy's Z Nation.

Review :

"[Luxenberg] is a fine writer who tells this story in an engaging manner...Separate reminds us that our history is not simply a narrative of greater and greater freedom."

"Luxenberg has chosen a fresh way to tell the story of Plessy..Separate is deeply researched, and it wears its learning lightly. It's a storytelling kind of book....[He] skillfully works the military and the political background into his narrative."

"Narrator Donald Corren does a masterful job reading this audiobook...Corren's tone has a compelling urgency that grabs our attention and carries us along for the entire work. He does this by changing his voice to sound agitated, express surprise, pause for effect, and emphasize key ideas and people throughout the audiobook. The result is a compelling historical account of a notorious decision that still affects us today. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award."

"Offers a striking view of Reconstruction and of the tragic stillbirth of freedom in that era."

"The Plessy case was a knife that cleaved America, and Steve Luxenberg brilliantly reveals that divide with his rich narrative of admirable and flawed characters caught in the battle over racial justice. Every paragraph resonates in today's headlines."