If you've read other African American studies books, or any of Gates' other books, the first 80% of this book will mostly be review. It's still a good overview of Black literary and cultural history, but not too much that's new. Then you get to the conclusion chapter. Wow. Gates methodically dissects modern revisionist falsehoods about history, exposing how a small group of slaveholders and their descendants engaged in a systematic effort to rewrite US history post Reconstruction. He then moves to current efforts to censor texts that critically evaluate these histories. Highly recommend