The Autobiography of Malcolm XRead about the other entries on the list.
Written in collaboration with Alex Haley, who interviewed Malcolm more than 50 times and finished the narrative after Mr X’s death. It is a gripping read from the opening, with the Ku Klux Klan menacing his pregnant mother, through to the troubled last months of his life: we follow Malcolm Little, common thief, on his journey to Malcolm X, inspirational leader. His ambitions for the black civil rights struggle in the US led him to what were then truly revolutionary ambitions for American society. They still are. The grand story also contains a useful security tip: from his years of housebreaking, Malcolm tells us that the best deterrent to being burgled is to leave a bathroom light on. The burglar knows you won’t be up and in the living room at 3am. But he can’t be certain that there isn’t an angry homeowner in the bathroom.
Also see: Neel Mukherjee's top ten books about revolutionaries.
--Marshal Zeringue