-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
A People's History of a Misunderstood Era
by Donovan X. Ramsey
A kaleidoscopic account of the crack cocaine era and a community's ultimate resilience, told through a cast of characters whose lives illuminate the dramatic rise and fall of the epidemic
The crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s is arguably the least examined crisis in American history. Beginning with the myths inspired by Reagan's war on drugs, journalist Donovan X. Ramsey's exacting analysis traces the path from the last triumphs of the Civil Rights Movement to the devastating realities we live with today: a racist criminal justice system, continued mass incarceration and gentrification, and increased police brutality.
When Crack Was King follows four individuals to give us a startling portrait of crack's destruction and devastating legacy: Elgin Swift, an archetype of American industry and ambition and the son of a crack-addicted father who turned their home into a "crack house"; Lennie Woodley, a former crack addict and sex worker; Kurt Schmoke, the longtime mayor of Baltimore and an early advocate of decriminalization; and Shawn McCray, community activist, basketball prodigy, and a founding member of the Zoo Crew, Newark's most legendary group of drug traffickers.
Weaving together riveting research with the voices of survivors, When Crack Was King is a crucial reevaluation of the era and a powerful argument for providing historically violated communities with the resources they deserve.
"Passionate, important reportage on a tragic era in American history from an author who lived through it." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A poignant and compelling re-examination of a tragic era in America history, when we allowed fear and anger to shape drug policy with heartbreaking results ... an insightful, challenging, and deeply moving work." —Bryan Stevenson, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Just Mercy
"Forget what you think you know about the crack era, because this definitive account resets the record. Both unflinching and compassionate, it has the power to expand your heart. Donovan X. Ramsey writes with a poetry befitting the lives of the people he profiles, a poetry long denied to the victims and survivors of crack cocaine. He reveals how the epidemic was one of heartbreak, in the crushing days of retrenchment from civil rights and the war on poverty. He urges us to celebrate the resilience of a people who beat back a plague with shockingly little compassion or health care from a disdainful nation. It's a stunning and unforgettable debut." —Heather McGhee, author of New York Times bestseller The Sum of Us
"If you lived through the crack years, you haven't forgotten them. If you weren't born yet, you need to know what you missed. Either way, this book is essential reading. Donovan X. Ramsey tells the story of the crack era—its causes, victims, and survivors—with insight and compassion. If you're anything like me, you won't soon forget the characters on these pages." —James Forman Jr., Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Locking Up Our Own
"Beautifully composed and carefully researched, When Crack Was King is a thoroughgoing survey of the crack epidemic. Since I lived through it, I thought I knew about this period—until I read this clear-eyed book." —Ibram X. Kendi, author of #1 New York Times bestseller How to Be an Antiracist
This information about When Crack Was King was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Donovan X. Ramsey is a journalist, author, and voice on issues of race, politics, and patterns of power in America. His reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, GQ, WSJ, Ebony, and Essence. He has been a staff reporter at the Los Angeles Times, NewsOne, and theGrio and has served as an editor at The Marshall Project and Complex. Ramsey holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Morehouse College.
If you liked When Crack Was King, try these:
by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Published 2025
An exhilarating novel about one American family, the dark moment that shatters their suburban paradise, and the wild legacy of trauma and inheritance, from the New York Times bestselling author of Fleishman Is in Trouble.
by Candace Fleming
Published 2025
How did Jim Jones, the leader of Peoples Temple, convince more than 900 of his followers to commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced punch? From a master of narrative nonfiction comes a chilling chronicle of one of the most notorious cults in American history.
by David Joy
Published 2023
Acclaimed author and "remarkably gifted storyteller" (the Charlotte Observer) David Joy returns with a fierce and tender tale of a father, an addict, a lawman, and the explosive events that come to unite them.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
