The Library of African-American Biography is to be commended for giving readers an accessible biography of one of the most prolific writers of the 19th and 20th centuries and a constant champion of civil rights. W. E. B. Du Bois deserves this sympathetic telling of his life story, a 95-year life that had many phases, bridging Reconstruction and the March on Washington. Alexander draws on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, including Du Bois’s own voluminous writings, to chronicle his intellectual journey, downplay the oft-reported tensions with Booker T. Washington, give significant attention to Du Bois’s contribution to the founding and development of the NAACP, and describe Du Bois’s indefatigable role as editor of the NAACP magazine, The Crisis, a 20th-century voice in the struggle to improve race relations in the US. The author also recounts Du Bois’s often-strident anti-colonial positions and the challenges he faced in the midst of the anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s. . . .Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries.