This poignant and powerful narrative tells the dramatic story of Kunta Kinte, snatched from freedom in Africa and brought by ship to America and slavery, and his descendants. Drawing on the oral traditions handed down in his family for generations, the author traces his origins back to the seventeen-year-old Kunta Kinte, who was abducted from his home in Gambia and transported as a slave to colonial America. In this account Haley provides an imaginative...

The remarkable history of Alex Haley's paternal side. Queen is the daughter of a slave and a plantation owner. During the turbulent decades of the antebellum South, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and beyond, she searches for a home in the two cultures and at times is shunned by both. Rejection and hate are no match for her unconquerable will.