This is the only full-length study of the major black poets of the United States from early slavery times to Langston Hughes. First published in France in 1963, the book is, in the words of Robert Bone, ''a seminal work not likely soon to be replaced as the standard treatment of its field.'' Langston Hughes called it ''a monumental work.'' ''A matchless study. . . . the best full length study of Black American poetry that has seen print. Wagner has evaluated the major poets from 1890 to 1940 (Dunbar to Hughes) with a superior critical discernment that is wedded to a sociological and psychological approach. . . . The distinguishing factors in Wagner's study are his aggressive grappling with two-sided issues; his lucid, metaphorical prose style; his thorough research, and judicious, carefully reasoned conclusions.''-- The New York Times Book Review
