Haley Men Of Fire

Clegg Iii, Claude Andrew. An Original Man The Life and Times of Elijah Muhammad. New York U. S. A.: St Martin's Press, 1997.
Marfree, acidfree F/Fine 1stEd w/ 16pp of glossy photos; name inside, not marked-in, underscored, clearance or discard. Mails from NYC usually within 12 hours. ; 10 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches; 377 pages; \nOnline Rev: Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan get more attention, but Elijah Muhammad indelibly defined the Nation of Islam from the time he assumed its leadership in 1934 until his death in 1975. This much-needed book illuminates the impact of Muhammad's personal history on the movement, particularly its stress on economic independence for black Americans. Historian Claude Andrew Clegg's balanced appraisal acknowledges Muhammad's financial and sexual misdeeds but credits him with promoting racial pride and "moral living. " Clegg makes a strong case for the Nation of Islam being "as homegrown as the NAACP or the Ku Klux Klan. " \nBrilliant, Revealing Biography Of A Misunderstood Leader, March 8, 2005 \nBy Taalib A. Muhammad (New York City) - \nPerhaps the most balanced, informative piece of literature on the controversial leader of the Nation of Islam: Elijah Muhammad. Mr. Clegg presents a totally non-biased expose of Elijah, void of any judgmental stances so frequently found in writings of this nature. Although not always flattering, it is a MUST read for anyone seeking to understand the early years of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad's life & the organization's rise to prominence within African-American communities throughout the country. Many of the misnomers attributed to this organization & its founder are dispelled, as are a great deal of the ambiguities regarding the inner-workings of the N. O. I. Additionally, there is valuable information regarding the relationship between Elijah & Malcolm X that reaches far beyond Alex Haley's writing. I highly recommend it! \n\nAn Original Man, Aug 4, 2001 \nBy Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum, (Philadelphia, PA) \nElijah Muhammad has hitherto been the most obscure of the trio, a quiet, even shadowy figure far less conspicuous to the outside world than either of his spokesmen. Clegg establishes, however, that contrary to the almost universal opinion of outsiders, Muhammad had far more importance & power within the movement than either of the younger men-or anyone else, for that matter. His biography, the best volume ever written on the Nation of Islam, relies on a broad & impressive array of original documents, such as the will bequeathing Muhammad's slave grandfather from a father to his daughter & the extensive FBI records pertaining to the Nation of Islam. Perhaps most fascinating & original is Clegg's argument that no matter how radical Muhammad's rhetoric seemed, he had by 1960 become the captive of his own avarice, & that this imposed an operational conservatism, even a timidity, quite at odds with his fire-breathing talk. Interestingly, Clegg attributes this change in part at least to Muhammad's 1959-60 trip to the Muslim world, where he was appalled by the poverty & filth; henceforth, he stopped portraying the "Holy Land of Islam" as a place infinitely superior to the United States that would save American blacks. This implied a decrease in revolutionary expectations & more stress on the message of economic self-improvement. \nMiddle East Quarterly, Dec 1998. 0312151845.

First Edition, Hardcover, As New in Fine dust jacket.

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