5 Notable W.E.B. Du Bois Books And Literary Works

Forbes

24-05-2025

W.E.B. Du Bois poses for a portait on May 31, 1919. (
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was a forward-thinking scholar whose intellect and writings bravely challenged America's racial hierarchy. As Harvard's first African American Ph.D. graduate in 1895, he established himself as an undeniable intellectual force during an era when segregation defined American society.
Du Bois began publishing scholarly work in 1896 and soon became renowned for his distinct writing style, which spanned multiple genres, including scholarly monographs, essays, autobiography, fiction and poetry. On February 12, 1909, Du Bois helped establish the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served as editor of its influential magazine, The Crisis, for over two decades, using this platform to publish important journalism, critique racial injustice and elevate Black literary talent during the Harlem Renaissance. Nearly a century later, Du Bois remains one of the most influential Black intellectuals in history. His scholarly precision and moral urgency continue to shape our understanding of race, power and identity in American society.
During his lifetime, Du Bois published 21 books and several journals. His seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), introduced 'double consciousness,' an idea that articulated the "split" nature of Black American identity in a predominantly white and racially segregated America. This concept, along with his critique of Booker T. Washington's accommodationist approach, helped to establish him as a leading voice on race in America. Below are five of his must-reads, selected for their relevance and sociological impact.
In the first chapter, 'Of Our Spiritual Strivings,' Du Bois introduces the idea of 'double consciousness,' which he describes as the 'sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.' The concept goes beyond academic speculation to offer a credible explanation for how Black Americans reconcile the tension between their self-perception and the distorted images imposed by a white supremacist society. This explanation continues to carry a lot of weight in present-day discussions around how racial identity presents itself within American society.
Arthur E. McFarlane II, the great-granson of the African-American hero—civil rights pioneer W.E.B. ... More DuBois reaches for "The Souls of Black Folk" one of the collection of DuBois books in his home.
The Souls of Black Folk is generally considered one of the earliest works of sociology and uses both history and memoir to analyze and then expose the contradictions of post-Reconstruction America. The narrative structure of the book is sharpened with scholarly analysis and lyrical meditation, with each chapter containing paired epigraphs: one from canonical Western literature and the other a bar from Negro spirituals (which Du Bois called 'sorrow songs'). In the third chapter titled 'Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,' the scholar presents a measured critique of Washington's accommodationist philosophy while also voicing his concerns about Washington's philosophy. Here, Du Bois firmly asserts that Washington's philosophy would do nothing more than harm Black people in the long run and keep them in a constant state of subservience and deference to white supremacy.
Who should read this?: Anyone interested in Black American history, race relations and the convoluted nature of Black experiences and identities in America.
Where to buy this book: Simon & Schuster
W.E.B. Dubois, with Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and Lincoln University President Dr. Horace Mann Bond, ... More after receiving the University's Alpha Medallion Awards.
In Black Reconstruction in America, W.E.B. Du Bois delivers a magisterial reassessment of the post-Civil War era that essentially disassembles the racist historiography that dominated American academic discourse for generations. Published in 1935 and during the Jim Crow era and resurgent white nationalism, this 768-page opus represents both rigorous historical scholarship and an act of intellectual defiance. Du Bois begins by framing the Civil War as fundamentally about slavery rather than states' rights, a perspective that is now accepted but was initially controversial. Du Bois also discusses how four million freed people became active pioneers of democracy rather than passive recipients of Northern benevolence. His exceptional research here is both thought-provoking and important.
Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the ... More organization's 20th Annual Session in Cleveland, Ohio, June 26, 1929. Pictured sitting are NAACP staff including W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, William Pickens, Arthur Spingarn, Daisy Lampkin, and Robert Bagnall.
He also discusses the idea of the 'general strike,' which is a reinterpretation of the mass enslaved people's flight to Union lines as a deliberate political action that sabotaged the Confederacy's war effort. One of the most radical concepts in this book is Du Bois's rendering of the postwar period. Where the then-dominant Dunning School historians saw tragic chaos and Negro incapacity, Du Bois demonstrates that this was an exceptional democratic experiment. Thanks to his archival-style research, Du Bois shows readers how Black legislators established the South's first public education systems, expanded voting rights and modernized state constitutions. These achievements, Du Bois demonstrates, were systematically erased from historical memory through what he terms 'propaganda posing as history.'
Who should read this?: Historians, scholars and serious readers who are interested in historical revisionism.
Where to buy this book: Labyrinth Books
The Philadelphia Negro is credited with being the first sociological case study of a Black American community. In this University of Pennsylvania-commissioned study, Du Bois combines rigorous empirical research with compassionate observation to study the lives, struggles and social structures of Philadelphia's Black community, all while establishing urban ethnography as a legitimate academic field. Du Bois conducted this research while teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, where he interviewed thousands of Black Philadelphians in the Seventh Ward. The resulting work provides unprecedented demographic data alongside nuanced analysis of the community's social stratification, economic conditions and the systemic barriers that discrimination creates. His methodology was pioneering as he used door-to-door surveys, statistical analysis and participant observation decades before these research practices became standard. The book denies popular ideas that Black poverty is a consequence of moral failure or inferiority; instead, it outlines the impact of structural racism, limited opportunities and systemic roadblocks that the average Black person experiences as a cause.
Who should read this?: Sociologists, urban historians and students of research methodology.
Where to buy this book: University of Pennsylvania Press
This future-facing collection uses autobiographical essays, poems, short stories and sociological analyses to create a vignette of Black life during World War I and its aftermath. It is one of the most revealing pieces of evidence regarding Du Bois's evolving radicalism and global perspective. Du Bois wrote the book during the violent 'Red Summer' of 1919, and it has since come to represent his most experimental and politically radical body of work. He also wrote a powerful essay called 'Returning Soldiers' in May of that year. A major theme of this work is the emphasis and study of labor, and he examines this by looking at the connections between racism, capitalism and imperialism while expanding his analysis to include gender through essays like 'The Damnation of Women.' In that essay, he validates the roles of women in society, inside the home, at work and in the Black church in a way that reads as feminist for its era. Du Bois acknowledges the double burden faced by Black women who have to endure both racial and gender oppression by arguing that 'the uplift of women is, next to the problem of the color line and the peace movement, our greatest modern cause.'
Dr. W.E.B. DuBois speaking at the World Peace Conference.
He basically critiques how white supremacy and patriarchy have denied Black women economic independence, educational opportunities and political voice while celebrating their grit and central role in community preservation. Another aspect of this book that was ahead of its time is Du Bois's insistence that sexual autonomy for women is important for their freedom. By asserting this, he challenged Victorian ideas of propriety that constrained discourse around gender. This proto-intersectional analysis anticipated feminist theoretical frameworks by decades while also proving yet again that Du Bois had never-before-seen intellectual foresight for his time and understood social justice through the lens of several overlapping systems of oppression.
Who should read this?: Readers interested in Black radicalism, intersectionality and literary innovation.
Where to buy this book: Verso Books
In this innovative 'autobiography of a concept,' Du Bois uses his personal journey to explain how race operates as a social construct. The book is a combination of memoir, social theory and historical analysis, complete with Du Bois's signature intellectual dexterity. Unlike conventional autobiography, Dusk of Dawn uses Du Bois's life experiences primarily as windows into broader social transformations while following his intellectual journey from Harvard through his NAACP years and growing disillusionment with American liberalism. Du Bois was 72 when he wrote this book, which is one of his most important works due to its reflective, scholarly wisdom. It sees Du Bois speak from the perspective of someone who experienced significant shifts ranging from Reconstruction through the Great Depression. He also critically reassesses his earlier positions, including his conception of the 'Talented Tenth,' while developing more economically radical approaches to racial justice. His chapter 'The Concept of Race' also challenges and deconstructs biological notions of race, while anticipating later theoretical developments by decades.
Who should read this: Anyone interested in intellectual history, racial theory and political autobiography.
Where to buy this book: Oxford University Press
Bottom Line
W.E.B. Du Bois was a preeminent Black intellectual and a revolutionary thinker whose work, especially his written works, permanently altered our national zeitgeist. Thanks to his sociological innovation, historical revision and intellect, his 21 books challenged white supremacy while offering a reliable blueprint for understanding race that remains startlingly relevant a century later.