TIME OF TRIAL, TIME OF HOPE

The first of the Zenith Books to be reviewed in this section, which aim "to present the history of minority groups in the United States and their participation in the growth and development of the country and will consist of histories and biographies written by leading historians in collaboration with established writers for young people." The evident readership at which the Books are directed is the minority group members themselves (adult as well as young adult), to give them an increased awareness of their own heritage; at the same time the Books are intended for others to develop an understanding and appreciation of that heritage. Time of Trial, Time of Hope, soundly written in swift-paced prose that is a pleasure to read, is a valuable addition in an uneven series. It moves from the return of the Negro soldiers of the 369th Infantry from France in 1919 to Harlem, to the Negro March on Washington in 1940 to demand the abolition of discrimination in all government departments, the army, navy, air corps and national defense jobs on the eve of World War II. It goes into the causes of the Great Migration and the Great Depression, describes the gains on artistic, political, labor fronts—the Negro Renaissance, the New Deal "Black Cabinet," the CIO breakthrough. The price and the product make this a good buy, an approach to the literate unreached.