The fact that no credible writer can write about Malcolm X without referring to the oft-quoted eulogy by Ossie Davis underlines just how central gender and sexuality are to understanding the black experience in America. For indeed, “Malcolm was our manhood.” Manning Marable’s recent and controversial biography of the man of many names, Malcolm X:…

Some history books try to tell a story. Others try to turn those stories on their heads, breaking apart what has been accepted as truth in the process. Daniel Rasmussen’s American Uprising: The Untold Story of America’s Largest Slave Revolt (Harper) tries to do the latter. Through his account of the little-known 1811 Louisiana slave…