After many years of neglect and misplaced criticism by contemporary activists, historians, and the media, Manfred Berg restores the NAACP to its rightful place at the heart of the civil rights movement. Where others have dismissed the NAACP's goals and methods as half-hearted, ineffective, and irrelevant, Berg challenges the legalistic and bureaucratic image of the NAACP and reveals a resourceful, dynamic, and politically astute organization that did much to open up the electoral process to greater black participation. Readers interested in the African American freedom struggle will find a nuanced and judiclous portrait of America's veteran civil rights organization.