TOMLINSON HILL: The Remarkable Story of Two Families Who Share the Tomlinson Name - One White, One Black - Softcover

"From the Hemingses of Monticello to the Tomlinsons of Tomlinson Hill, family in America has never been as easily defined as the color line of slavery and Jim Crow pretended. Sometimes it takes a reporter to sort out the truth. In the case of Tomlinson Hill, that reporter is one of the best of his generation, and in unraveling the poignant, often painful mystery of his family and those they once owned, Chris Tomlinson applies the same journalistic standards he once brought to the battlefields of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The resulting reconciliation is as moving as it is inspiring." --Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University

"A personal, unvarnished look at race in America." --Mark K. Updegrove, presidential historian and author of Baptism By Fire

"A complex story, at times stark but with moments of hope, that offers insights into American race relations." --Alwyn Barr, author of Black Texans

"A remarkable and essential book of personal and national history, a profound reckoning with the infinite tangles of race and identity along the roots and branches of the American family tree. It is a quietly epic story--spanning centuries--masterfully reconstructed, and memorably told..." --Philip Gourevitch, author of The Ballad of Abu Ghraib

"This book is a rewarding reminder of how a seemingly unremarkable place can be a laboratory for understanding the conflicts at the heart of our national identity. Chris Tomlinson has drilled deep into Tomlinson Hill, and released a gusher of history." --Stephen Harrigan, author of The Gates of the Alamo

"The author offers not only a detailed history of two families brought together by circumstances greater than themselves; he also opens an honest conversation necessary to begin healing the centuries-old racial rifts that have marred American history...Cleareyed and courageously revealing." --Kirkus Reviews

"Fast-paced...spellbinding...Tomlinson not only offers an engaging and poignant look into his own past but also a riveting glimpse of the history of race relations in Texas." --Publishers Weekly

..".an unflinching look at the racial history of one small Texas community...through his meticulous research into not only his ancestors' but also America's past, Tomlinson sets his and LaDainian's very personal narratives within the larger scope of national events... " --Booklist