Authorized by Baldwin before his death in 1987, this biography is written by his former assistant (from 1964-1967), David Leeming - they met in Turkey in 1962. During those years he was particularly involved in Baldwin's civil rights activities. Leeming has been given exclusive access to the Baldwin family and documents pertaining to the writer's life, growing up in Harlem, New York City, his nine-year exile in Europe and his later years of political activity in America, which earned him a 1700-page FBI file as a suspected communist and revolutionary.
Secondhand UK first edition hardback book with dustjacket