Includes bibliographical references (pages 555-587) and index.

In the land of the forefathers. Leaving ; The Great Migration, 1915-1970 -- Beginnings. Ida Mae Brandon Gladney ; The stirrings of discontent ; George Swanson Starling ; Robert Joseph Pershing Foster ; A burdensome labor ; The Awakening ; Breaking away -- Exodus. The appointed time of their coming ; Crossing over -- The kinder mistress. Chicago ; New York ; Los Angeles ; The things they left behind ; Transplanted in alien soil ; Divisions ; To bend in strange winds ; The other side of Jordan ; Complications ; The river keeps running ; The prodigals ; Disillusionment ; Revolutions ; The fullness of the migration -- Aftermath. In the places they left ; Losses ; More North and West than South ; Redemption ; And, perhaps, to bloom ; The winter of their lives ; The emancipation of Ida Mae.

In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America.

Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, 2011.

National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, 2010.