How the Word Is Passed

A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

By: Clint Smith

Narrated by: Clint Smith

One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of the Year

A number one New York Times best seller

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction

Longlisted for the PEN Award

Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the listener on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping America's collective history.

It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving more than 400 people. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the story of Angola, a former plantation turned maximum security prison in Louisiana that is filled with Black men who work across the 18,000-acre land for virtually no pay. And it is the story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers.

A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of America's most essential stories are hidden in plain view—whether in places we might drive by on our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth or entire neighbourhoods like downtown Manhattan, where the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women and children has been deeply imprinted.

A number one New York Times best seller, How the Word Is Passed is a landmark book that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of the United States. Chosen as a book of the year by President Barack Obama, The Economist, Time, The New York Times and more, fans of Brit(ish) and Natives will be utterly captivated.

©2021 Clint Smith (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"A beautifully readable reminder of how much of our urgent, collective history resounds in places all around us that have been hidden in plain sight." (Afua Hirsch, author of Brit(ish))

"A beautifully written, evocative, and timely meditation on the way slavery is commemorated in the United States.'" (Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author)

"How the Word Is Passed frees history, frees humanity to reckon honestly with the legacy of slavery. We need this book." (Ibram X. Kendi, number one New York Times best-selling author)

Moving

I have realized that I have very little understanding of this critical aspect of the US or even world history. This is the book must be read, and extremely useful to get perspectives for BLM and other important movements.

Phenomenal Read

This is an unbelievably important read. I highly, highly recommend it. Clint Smith is extremely well spoken and his narration of these details was fantastic. It is extremely hard to digest the facts of this book, but it is an important read. Truly well researched and written.