Eslanda The Large and Unconventional Life of Mrs. Paul Robeson Barbara Ransby

Eslanda 'Essie' Cardozo Goode Robeson lived a colourful and amazing life, embroiled in much of the twentieth century's social turmoil and travelling to every corner of the globe to fight for downtrodden and oppressed people. She was a woman of unusual accomplishment - an anthropologist, a prolific journalist, a tireless advocate of women's rights, an outspoken anti-colonial and antiracist activist, and an internationally sought-after speaker. Yet historians for the most part have confined Essie to the role of Mrs. Paul Robeson, a wife hidden behind the large shadow cast by her famous husband. In this masterful book, biographer Barbara Ransby refocuses attention on Essie, one of the most important and fascinating black women of the twentieth century. Chronicling Essie's eventful life, the book explores her influence on her husband's early career and how she later achieved her own unique political voice. Essie's friendships with a host of literary icons and world leaders, her renown as a fierce defender of justice, her defiant testimony before Senator Joseph McCarthy's infamous anti-communist committee, and her unconventional open marriage that endured for over 40 years - all are brought to light in the pages of this inspiring biography. Essie's indomitable personality shines through, and her contributions to American and world history can be fully appreciated at last.

Barbara Ransby is a professor of Gender and Women's Studies and African American Studies & History at the University of Illinois. She has published dozens of articles and essays in popular and scholarly venues and is the author of the award-winning Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision.

'From a master biographer and historian of African American women, this mesmerizing story of an extraordinary woman's life and struggles offers a global view of black radical history. After this book no one will be able to think of Eslanda merely as Mrs. Paul Robeson.' Linda Gordon, author of Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits

'This long overdue biography of a bold scholar-activist emerging from the shadow of her famous husband is a gift, and such are Ransby’s narrative skills that I wept when, in her final pages, the vibrant Essie died, two days shy of 70. Ransby has a history of rescuing historically overlooked black female leaders; a prior biography was of the venerable civil rights activist Ella Baker. This new work is a major contribution to her glorious reclamation project.' Joan Steinau Lester, Ms Magazine

'Fascinating … A poignant portrait of a peripatetic, human rights activist willing to challenge oppression of any form wherever she could find it.' Kam Williams, Insight