R. James: A Critical Introduction a literary critic undertakes for the first time a sustained analysis of James's major published works, placing them in the context of James's less well-known writings as an activist and journalist. Nielsen, who was once a student in James's courses in American universities, offers an encompassing critique of one of the African diaspora's most significant thinkers and writers. Here the author of Black Jacobins, World Revolution, A History of Pan-African Revolt, Notes on Dialectics, Beyond a Boundary, and the lyric novel Minty Alley is seen not only as among the great political philosophers but also as the literary artist that he remained, from his first writings in Trinidad through his underground years in America, to his final essays and speeches in London. The writings of James have inspired revolutionaries on three continents, have altered the course of historiography, have shown the way toward independent black political struggles, and have established the basis for much of today's cultural studies. Aldon Lynn Nielsen is a professor of English at San Jose State University.