American Tapestry

Michelle Obama's family saga is a remarkable, quintessentially American story?a journey from slavery to the White House in five generations. In this prodigiously researched epic, New York Times correspondent Rachel L. Swarns traces that complex and fascinating tale?from the men who fought in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, to the mothers and fathers who endured the horrors of slavery and the indignities of segregation to build a better future for their children?uncovering details about Mrs. Obama's black, white, and multiracial forebears that even the First Lady herself did not know. Though an intimate family history, American Tapestry is also the collective chronicle of our changing nation, a beautifully rendered and singularly inspiring story with resonance for us all.