Publication delayed of epic history book amended after being called ‘too white’

Richard Cohen’s work, revised after criticism of its viewpoint, will not be published this week after a new row over its title

Billed as an “epic exploration of who writes about the past”, The History Makers was due out this Friday before being serialised on Radio 4 in the UK. But publication has been postponed at the last minute amid bitter rows over race and appropriation.

The Observer reported last month that author Richard Cohen was asked by his US publishers to rewrite part of his 800-page book, which covers 2,500 years, after failing to take into account enough black historians, academics and writers. Cohen added an 18,000-word chapter, plus extra material in existing chapters, to include individuals such as the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, the sociologist WEB Du Bois and the author Toni Morrison.

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