Roots. You are invulnerable as long as you remember the history of your family

1977 Pulitzer Prize.
Translated into 37 languages.
Two adaptations (1977, 2016).
1.5 million copies sold during the first 7 months of sales.
The final episode of the series based on the book attracted twice as many viewers as the final episode of "Friends".

When Alex... Haley was a child, his grandmother told him stories about their family. These stories began two hundred years ago with a man she called "the African". He was kidnapped from his native village and forced aboard a ship bound for colonial America.
As he grew up, Haley spent twelve years searching for sources that could confirm the authenticity of his grandmother's stories. Through genealogical research, he discovered the name of "the African". His name was Kunta Kinte, and his story marks the beginning of one of the most unusual and influential books in American literature. A dramatic story of six generations of one family unfolds before readers, including slaves and freedmen, farmers and blacksmiths, lawyers and architects... and one author.

About the Author

Alex Haley was born in 1921 in Ithaca, New York, to a family of educators. From 1939 to 1959, he served in the Coast Guard, after which he worked for Reader's Digest magazine. In 1976, Haley published the autobiographical novel "Roots", which instantly made him famous nationwide. Shortly before his death, the writer completed a second novel, which was published in 1993 under the title "The Queen of Alex Haley".

Reviews

"Roots is a crucial novel about the fate of Black people in America, the missing link between 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' and the texts of Kendrick Lamar". - Afisha

"A bold and unusual blockbuster". - Newsweek

"Roots was a hit because no one had ever read or seen anything like it". - New York Times

"A symbolic chronicle of the odyssey of African Americans from the African continent to the country they did not choose". - Washington Post