Raymond Arsenault

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

“For those who have long admired Ashe, this close look at his life offers even more evidence that he was more than a great player, he was an extraordinary person. . . . Arthur Ashe: A Life is among the best books about tennis I’ve ever read — it’s a deep, detailed, thoughtful chronicle of one of the country’s best and most important players.”– Touré, The New York Times Book Review

"[A] wide-ranging, massively researched and thoroughly absorbing biography." – Gene Seymour, USA Today

“A thoroughly captivating biography. . . . With great dexterity, Arsenault juxtaposes Ashe’s tennis journey with touchstone moments of the ’60s. . . . As this book eloquently reveals, one can only wonder and shed at least one tear for what more [Ashe] might have accomplished.” – Joel Drucker, The San Francisco Chronicle

“An insightful narrative of the evolution of a remarkable human being.”  – Michael Grunwald, The Washington Post

“Arsenault attempts to revive our interest in Anderson's feat by examining it in the context of a complex and often turbulent racial landscape. And he succeeds handily.”—Washington Post

“On the 70th anniversary of that groundbreaking concert, The Sound of Freedom reminds readers of a turning point in American life.”—New York Times Book Review

“A notable addition to the historical record…Arsenault's book is a timely reminder of the worm of history turning once more. We have only just witnessed another triumphant procession on the Washington Mall, where another exemplary African-American, himself the product of another David and Delia, was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States - something Anderson would likely have been hard-pressed to imagine taking place.”—Boston Globe

“A tightly focused look at the political and cultural events that led up to and came after her famous 1939 concert. It’s a story that’s well worth retelling.”—New York Times

“This vivid tribute to her work and times does [Anderson’s] memory a great service.”—Publishers Weekly

"Drawing on personal papers, F.B.I. files, and interviews with more than 200 participants in the rides, Arsenault brings vividly to life a defining moment in modern American history.... Rescues from obscurity the men and women who, at great personal risk, rode public buses into the South in order to challenge segregation in interstate travel.... Relates the story of the first Freedom Ride and the more than 60 that followed in dramatic, often moving detail."--Eric Foner, The New York Times Book Review

"Authoritative, compelling history.... This is a story that only benefits from Mr. Arsenault's deliberately slowed-down narration. Moment by moment, he recreates the sense of crisis, and the terrifying threat of violence that haunted the first Freedom Riders, and their waves of successors, every mile of the way through the Deep South. He skillfully puts into order a bewildering series of events and leads the reader, painstakingly, through the political complexities of the time. Perhaps his greatest achievement is to show, through a wealth of detail, just how contested every inch of terrain was, and how uncertain the outcome, as the Freedom Riders pressed forward, hundreds of them filling Southern jails."--William Grimes, The New York Times