In this expansive and concise volume, encompassing the early life and times of Booker T. Washington, his preeminent biographer, Dr. Louis R. Harlan, presents a portrait of a man with many faces and a singular dedication, to always present himself and his objectives, in the best possible light, given the company and the circumstances. Harlan spent the better part of a quarter-century sifting through more than a million pieces of primary evidence from the estate of the iconic African-American educator and leader, to produce this volume and the latest part of the biography of Washington subtitled, The Wizard of Tuskegee. , 1901-1915, a decade later. Both won the Bancroft Prize in 1973 and 1984 respectively, and the second volume also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984. With his co-editor, Professor Raymond W. Smock, Harlan also produced fourteen volumes of the Booker T. Washington Papers (1853-1946) during his tenure at the University of Maryland. Somehow he also found time to chair the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Southern Historical Association, becoming the first historian to do so simultaneously. The fruits of his labors have forever enriched the body of research in the field of African American studies for which he is universally recognized as one of the greatest historians of the 20th century. In this volume, Dr. Harlan gives his readers a detailed chronological account of Washington's life from his birth as a slave in Virginia, "probably in the spring of 1856" to the occasion that embodies his iconic rise to national prominence , his famous dinner at the White House with President Teddy Roos...... middle of paper... Blacks from the state, writing at the time to a friend: "I am very disgusted by the people of color of Georgia", who did not even return his mail and openly wondered how far he could or "should go to fight these measures in other states while the colored people themselves sit back and do nothing to themselves." The author was actively involved and his immense respect evident for his subject, Harlan's objectivity is refreshing. Dr. Harlan introduced future generations to the first prominent scholarly document on a prominent African-American figure who will long be an integral part of American historiography. Works CitedHarlan, Louis R. Booker T. Washington: The Making of a Black Leader, 1856 -1901. New York: Oxford Univ Press, 1972. Print.