Black Empire

A pioneering work of Afrofuturism and antiracist fiction by the author of Black No More, about a Black scientist who masterminds a worldwide conspiracy to take back the African continent from imperial powersA Penguin Classic"An amazing serial story of Black genius against the world" is how Black Empire was promoted upon its original publication as a serial in The Pittsburgh Courier from 1936 to 1938.It tells the electrifying tale of Dr. Henry Belsidus, a Black scientific genius desperate to free his people from the crushing tyranny of racism. To do so, he concocts a plot to enlist a crew of Black intellectuals to help him take over the world, cultivating a global network to reclaim Africa from imperial powers and punish Europe and America for white supremacy and their crimes against the planet's Black population.At once a daring, high-stakes science fiction adventure and a strikingly innovative Afrofuturist classic, this controversial and fearlessly political work lays bare the ethical quandaries of exactly how far one should go in the name of justice.

“"Imagine W. E. B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver and Marcus Garvey rolled into one fascist superman, and there you have Dr. Henry Belsidus. . . . [ Black Empire is] an Afrocentrist's dream." -- Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The New York Times Book Review”

“An incredible science fiction novel . . . It’s just a fantastic book, filled with romance and war and politics. I loved this book, and I couldn’t have been more surprised by it.” ―Bill Goldstein, NBC’s Weekend Today in New York

“Imagine W. E. B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver and Marcus Garvey rolled into one fascist superman, and there you have Dr. Henry Belsidus. . . . [Black Empire is] an Afrocentrist’s dream.” —Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The New York Times Book Review

“Dr. Belsidus, a Harlem criminal mastermind, . . . is pulp fiction villainy at its best . . . like Fu Manchu before him and Ernst Blofeld after. . . . Readers today may still find themselves thrilled.” —Public Books

“Indispensable reading for anyone interested in early Afrofuturism . . . Searing in its indictment of entrenched racism . . . Rip-roaring yarns with sharp satirical points.” ―Publishers Weekly

“Fascinating . . . A proto-Afrofuturist potboiler poised between Black Panther and the works of Percival Everett . . . Lurid, pulpy fun.” ―Library Journal

“A fascinating piece of work . . . Fast-paced, action packed . . . A solid read―there’s good adventure here, and Schuyler tells his story quite well―and it’s also of literary-historical interest. The Penguin Classics edition is also an excellent one, from editor Brooks E. Hefner’s useful Introduction to the interesting appendices.” ―The Complete Review

George S. Schuyler (Author)
George S. Schuyler (1895-1977) was one of the most prominent African American journalists of the early twentieth century. Born in Rhode Island, Schuyler spent his early years in New York, before enlisting in the US army in 1912. He returned to New York after briefly being AWOL to pursue a career in journalism. He wrote for black America's most influential newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier, in addition to The Nation, The Washington Post and H. L. Mencken's The American Mercury.

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