PAPERBACK ISBN: 0-88258-117-1      $24.95

168 pages; 5.5 x 8.5 inches

by Junius Edwards

If We Must Die, by Junius Edwards, is the story of one young black man’s determination to vote in a nameless, racist town where this right is denied blacks.  Will Harris has recently returned from the Army to this small southern town, where the only measure of one’s status is color, and the only color recognized as having any status is white.  Will’s mother has a secret reason for wanting her son to try to register to vote, even if it means being turned away. This gripping tale of Will’s terror-filled day includes a merciless beating and attempted castration.  The protagonist’s ultimate death is symbolic of the brutality of racism and its mindless effects.  

Originally published in 1963, this edition of If We Must Die features a penetrating introduction by Mel Watkins, an editor of The New York Times Book Review, who places the novel squarely in the context of the times in which it was written. The work also contains an appen­dix of reviews the book received upon first publication.

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