{"product_id":"9780525624516","title":"We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn these “urgently relevant essays,”* the National Book Award–winning author of \u003ci\u003eBetween the World and Me\u003c\/i\u003e “reflects on race, Barack Obama’s presidency and its jarring aftermath”*—including the election of Donald Trump.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Bestseller • \u003c\/b\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e’s Top 10 Non-Fiction Books of the Year • One of \u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e’s top 10 books of the year • \u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eNotable Book\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We were eight years in power” was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. In this sweeping collection of new and selected essays, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America’s “first white president.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut the story of these present-day eight years is not just about presidential politics. This book also examines the new voices, ideas, and movements for justice that emerged over this period—and the effects of the persistent, haunting shadow of our nation’s old and unreconciled history. Coates powerfully examines the events of the Obama era from his intimate and revealing perspective—the point of view of a young writer who begins the journey in an unemployment office in Harlem and ends it in the Oval Office, interviewing a president.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWe Were Eight Years in Power \u003c\/i\u003efeatures Coates’s iconic essays first published in \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic,\u003c\/i\u003e including “Fear of a Black President,” “The Case for Reparations,” and “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” along with eight fresh essays that revisit each year of the Obama administration through Coates’s own experiences, observations, and intellectual development, capped by a bracingly original assessment of the election that fully illuminated the tragedy of the Obama era. \u003ci\u003eWe Were Eight Years in Power\u003c\/i\u003e is a vital account of modern America, from one of the definitive voices of this historic moment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Essential . . . Coates’s probing essays about race, politics, and history became necessary ballast for this nation’s gravity-defying moment.”—\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Diversified Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47060693745904,"sku":"9780525624516","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780525624516_p0.jpg?v=1763711445","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780525624516","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}