The Last Thing You Surrender, Leonard Pitts, Jr.
The Last Thing You Surrender, Leonard Pitts, Jr.
2 Rating(s)
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

The Last Thing You Surrender

Author: Leonard Pitts, Jr.

Narrator: Bill Andrew Quinn

Unabridged: 20 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/12/2019


Synopsis

Could you find the courage to do what's right in a world on fire?

Pulitzer-winning journalist and bestselling author (Freeman) Leonard Pitts, Jr.'s new historical novel is a great American tale of race and war, following three characters from the Jim Crow South as they face the enormous changes World War II triggers in the United States.

An affluent white marine survives Pearl Harbor at the cost of a black messman's life only to be sent, wracked with guilt, to the Pacific and taken prisoner by the Japanese. A young black woman, widowed by the same events at Pearl Harbor, finds unexpected opportunity and a dangerous friendship in a segregated Alabama shipyard feeding the war. A black man, who as a child saw his parents brutally lynched, is conscripted to fight Nazis for a country he despises and discovers a new kind of patriotism in the all-black 761st Tank Battalion.

Set against a backdrop of violent racial conflict on both the front lines and the home front, The Last Thing You Surrender explores the powerful moral struggles of individuals from a divided nation. What does it take to change someone's mind about race? What does it take for a country and a people to move forward, transformed?

About Leonard Pitts, Jr.

Leonard Pitts, Jr., is the author of the novels Grant Park, Freeman, and Before I Forget, as well as two works of nonfiction. He is a nationally syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, in addition to many other awards. Born and raised in Southern California, Pitts lives in Maryland, outside of Washington, D.C.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sam on March 14, 2019

There are tons of novels about World War Two, and the vast majority of them are about what it did to white folks. How African-Americans experienced the Second World War, at home and on the front lines, is a neglected story. Leonard Pitts has made a good start on remedying that with this big-canvas e......more

Goodreads review by Karen on November 21, 2024

Catching Up… I remember receiving this for a gift. I was so thrilled, because I wanted to read it before displaying it in my Little Free Library Shed. I always admired Pitts as a columnist, and my gal pals and I had read and discussed his book “Freeman.” (Also, just reviewed and posted today.) I have......more

Goodreads review by Sue-Lin Toussaint on March 03, 2019

Remarkable work of historical fiction that challenges our race notions I almost NEVER write a review. But because I’ve read other works by this thoughtful author, I waited patiently for this one to be released, and read it with enthusiasm. It might be his best yet. Let me begin by saying I’m a “soft......more