W. E. B. Du Bois was a public intellectual, sociologist, and activist on behalf of the African American community. He profoundly shaped black political culture in the United States through his founding role in the NAACP, as well as internationally through the Pan-African movement. Du Bois's sociological and historical research on African-American communities and culture broke ground in many areas, including the history of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. Du Bois was also a prolific author of novels, autobiographical accounts, innumerable editorials and journalistic pieces, and several works of history.

Considered a sequel to Du Bois's wildly popular The Souls of Black Folks, Darkwater revisits many of the same themes with a more militant edge, even revising previously published essays and poems to include in this newer volume. Published in 1920, Darkwater focuses on the political climate following World War I. In ten carefully crafted chapters, Du Bois explores the important issues of that period- labor, capital, politics, gender, education, and international relations-in tandem with an overarching theme of race. Blending lyrical autobiography with political thoughts and even poetry, Du Bois makes a powerful, forceful argument regarding race and the color line. With a series introduction by editor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and an introduction by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, this edition is essential for anyone interested in African American history.