Not Out of Africa - (New Republic Book) by Mary Lefkowitz (Paperback)

About the Book

Was Socrates black? How about Cleopatra? Was Greece colonized by Egypt? As absurd as these claims seem, they, and other "truths" are being taught to college students across the country. In "Not Out of Africa", Lefkowitz debunks the claims made by the Afrocentric movement, presenting a fascinating and scholarly look at these myths and explaining why they have propagated despite an overwhelming lack of real evidence. Illustrations.

Book Synopsis

Not Out of Africa has sparked widespread debate over the teaching of revisionist history in schools and colleges. Was Socrates black? Did Aristotle steal his ideas from the library in Alexandria? Do we owe the underlying tenets of our democratic civilizaiton to the Africans? Mary Lefkowitz explains why politically motivated histories of the ancient world are being written and shows how Afrocentrist claims blatantly contradict the historical evidence. Not Out of Africa is an important book that protects and argues for the necessity of historical truths and standards in cultural education. For this new paperback edition, Mary Lefkowitz has written an epilogue in which she responds to her critics and offers topics for further discussion. She has also added supplementary notes, a bibliography with suggestions for further reading, and a glossary of names.

About the Author

Mary Lefkowitz is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Wellesley College. She is the author of many books on ancient Greece and Rome, including Lives of the Greek Poets and Women in Greek Myth, as well as articles for the Wall Street Journal and the New Republic. She is the coeditor of Women's Life in Greece and Rome and Black Athena Revisited.