Roots

About “Roots”

Roots is a 1976 novel written by Alex Haley. It tells the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African who was captured as an adolescent and sold into slavery in the United States. The book follows his life and the lives of his descendants through the United States. The novel became a cultural phenomenon, especially after its television adaptation in 1977. It spent 46 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List and won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. The book sold over one million copies in its first year, and the miniseries was watched by 130 million people. Roots brought attention to the history of slavery in the United States and continues to influence discussions about race and history today.