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Roots: The Saga of an American Family

Historical Fiction and Romance

Roots: The Saga of an American Family is a 1976 novel by Alex Haley that traces the life of Kunta Kinte, an eighteenth century Mandinka man captured as an adolescent and transported to North America, and follows his descendants down to Haley himself. The novel spent forty six weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, including twenty two weeks at number one, and its final seven chapters were later adapted into the miniseries Roots: The Next Generations in 1979, following the original 1977 television adaptation of the full novel. The book stimulated wide public interest in African American genealogy and contributed to a broader appreciation of African American history. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Classification
Audience
General 1
Original Language
English 1
Award
Bancarella Literary Prize 1
Award
Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards 1
Composed, From (Year)
1976 1
FAQs

Is Roots a true story?

It combines history and fiction, and later investigations cast serious doubts on the accuracy of Haley's family story.

Roots is described by Britannica as a book combining history and fiction. Alex Haley spent 12 years tracing seven generations of his family, beginning with Kunta Kinte, his ancestor from The Gambia who had been enslaved and brought to America in 1767, with the descendants keeping the tales alive through oral tradition. However, later investigations of Haley's methods and attempts to duplicate his research cast serious doubts on the accuracy of his story, and a pivotal character, the griot or African oral historian who knew the name Kunta Kinte, proved to be a fraud. Despite its faults, the book retains its emotional impact and its significance for African American literature.
Connections

Authored By

Alex Haley, Authors
Source Roots: The Saga of an American Family (Wikipedia)

In Genre

Source Roots: The Saga of an American Family (Wikipedia)
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Original Language

Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.

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Source Roots: The Saga of an American Family (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Roots: The Saga of an American Family (Wikipedia)
  • Lead
    Roots: The Saga of an American Family is a 1976 novel written by Alex Haley.
  • Lead paragraph
    Roots: The Saga of an American Family is a 1976 novel written by Alex Haley. It tells the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century Mandinka, captured as an adolescent, and transported to North America. It explores his life and those of his descendants in the United States, down to Haley. The novel was adapted as a television miniseries, Roots (1977).
  • In Genre: Historical Fiction, Infobox, genre field
    Genre: Historical fiction
  • Authored By: Alex Haley, Infobox, author field
    Author: Alex Haley
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Wikidata: Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Wikidata
  • Wikidata P166: Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards
    Wikidata P166 (award received): Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards, 1977.
  • Wikidata P166: Bancarella Literary Prize
    Wikidata P166 (award received): Bancarella Literary Prize, 1978.
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