Books like The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America

There are some positive aspects to this book, the foremost being that it was written at all. It focuses on the causes and results of serious problems which had not been solved in 1991, with little optimism that ghetto problems would ever be solved except by the upward movement of people who found a way out. The details of the individuals whose histories are presented are illuminating but difficult to follow and absorb - too much detail not put into clear narrative or context. The political machinations in Washington and Chicago (President Johnson & Mayor Daley) are fascinating and easier to follow, perhaps because I was aware of many of the events covered at the time they were happening.Part of my problem in reading this book now is that it was written 28 years ago and while it has interest as history, its value as social and political commentary is seriously dated. An additional note: I entered “American ghetto” as a search term in Amazon and found very few books on the topic, perhaps suggesting just how limited has been our sustained interest in the problem.