Roots: The Saga of an American Family
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, sold into slavery in Africa, and transported to North America. It explores his life and those of his descendants in the United States, down to Haley. The novel was quickly adapted as a hugely popular television miniseries, Roots (1977). Together the novel and series , led to a cultural sensation in the United States. The novel spent forty-six weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, including twenty-two weeks at number one.
This article is about the 1976 novel. For the miniseries of the same name, see Roots (1977 miniseries).Author
August 17, 1976
704 pp (First edition, hardback)
0-385-03787-2 (First edition, hardback)
929/.2/0973
E185.97.H24 A33
The last seven chapters of the novel were later adapted in the form of a second miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations (1979). It stimulated interest in African American genealogy and an appreciation for African American history.[1]
The book was originally described as fiction, yet it sold in the non-fiction section of bookstores. Haley spent the last chapter of the book describing his research in archives and libraries to support his family's oral tradition with written records.