Imperium in Imperio (AmazonClassics Edition)

Belton Piedmont and Bernard Belgrave begin their lives as childhood friends, but that friendship is not bound to last. Belton (modeled on Booker T. Washington) is an African American integrationist; Bernard (modeled on W. E. B. Du Bois) is a biracial militant, and their lives, like their politics, quickly diverge. When they do meet again, at a Black nationalist community called “the Imperium,” the stakes could not be higher. This underground government plans to take aggressive measures against the racist forces that lie outside, and what follows is a dramatic dialogue between two opposing visions of Black empowerment. For two friends turned rivals, in a country within a country, one thing at least remains clear: the war is just beginning.

First published in 1899, Imperium in Imperio stands as a singular and radical exploration of oppression, prejudice, activism, and Black empowerment in the post-Reconstruction United States.

Revised edition: Previously published as Imperium in Imperio, this edition of Imperium in Imperio (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.