In this essential companion to the new PBS series, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. presents a powerful new history of the Black church in America, taking us from his own experience onto a 400-year journey throughout which the church has been the Black community’s abiding rock and its fortress. As Gates brilliantly shows, the Black church has never been only one thing, and its story lies at the vital center of the civil rights movement, having produced leaders such as the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and many others. Hardcover, 320 pages, with photos throughout.