High John the Conqueror

First printed in 1948, High John the Conqueror, John W. Wilson's only published book, was considered a breakthrough novel for its attention to racism, sexual politics, and the oppressive nature of agribusiness. It has since become a classic depiction of the arduous life and work of African American cotton farmers in southeast Texas. "Mr. Wilson seems to have grasped the same sense of slowmoving inevitable force, beyond man himself, that can so easily lift or destroy him."-New York Times Book Review