亚历克斯·哈利（Alex·Haley）：美国黑人作家，1921年8月11日生于纽约州的伊萨卡，1939-1959年在海岸警卫队服役，其间当过记者。1965年与人合写了黑人领袖马尔科姆·艾克斯的传记。在要找出黑人传统的欲望驱使下，他对冈比亚有关口头传说进行了调查研究，发现自己家族可追溯到七代之前的一个非洲人，他被作为奴隶于1767年运到安纳波利斯。哈利以大量史实为基础，增补一些细节，于1976年写出了长篇家史小说《根》。该书获1977年普利策特别奖，改编成电视连续剧上演后轰动全国。1992年2月10日逝世于西雅图。

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One of the most important books and television series ever to appear, Roots , galvanized the nation, and created an extraordinary political, racial, social and cultural dialogue that hadn’t been seen since the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin . The book sold over one million copies in the first year, and the miniseries was watched by an astonishing 130 million people. It also won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Roots opened up the minds of Americans of all colors and faiths to one of the darkest and most painful parts of America’s past.

Over the years, both Roots and Alex Haley have attracted controversy, which comes with the territory for trailblazing, iconic books, particularly on the topic of race. Some of the criticism results from whether Roots is fact or fiction and whether Alex Haley confused these two issues, a subject he addresses directly in the book. There is also the fact that Haley was sued for plagiarism when it was discovered that several dozen paragraphs in Roots were taken directly from a novel, The African, by Harold Courlander, who ultimately received a substantial financial settlement at the end of the case.

But none of the controversy affects the basic issue. Roots fostered a remarkable dialogue about not just the past, but the then present day 1970s and how America had fared since the days portrayed in Roots . Vanguard Press feels that it is important to publish Roots: The 30th Anniversary Edition to remind the generation that originally read it that there are issues that still need to be discussed and debated, and to introduce to a new and younger generation, a book that will help them understand, perhaps for the first time, the reality of what took place during the time of Roots .