US intelligence agencies have had a tense relationship with some African-Americans in the past from the Black Panther Party to French Resistance spy Josephine Baker, a singer and entertainer who left the US for France and found herself on an FBI Watch List.

We checked out some of the top books that trace the history of espionage, civil rights, and African-Americans.

A Spy in Canaan by Marc Perrusquia (2018)‍

Photographer Ernest Withers captured some of the most stunning moments of the American Civil Rights era. Withers was behind the scenes with Martin Luther King Jr. and took the haunting photo of Emmett Till’s great-uncle pointing an accusing finger at his nephew’s killers. He was trusted by King’s inner circle but few knew Withers was also an FBI informant. Journalist Marc Perrusquia broke the story and explores Withers’ life, complex motives, and legacy in A Spy in Canaan. 
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‍The Many Faces of Josephine Baker (2015) by Peggy Caravantes &
Agent Josephine (2022) by Damien Lewis

Two books go behind the scenes with American-born entertainer and French Resistance spy Josephine Baker. The Many Faces of Josephine Baker digs into Baker’s outspoken participation in the US Civil Rights Movement, her espionage work for the French Resistance, and the adoption of 12 children - who she called her ‘rainbow tribe’. Both are fascinating tales. Meanwhile, Agent Josephine uncovers the little-known history of the famous singer’s early life and her time during WWII as a member of the French Nurse paratroopers, her cover for espionage.
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All Blood Runs Red (2019) by Phil Keith and Tom Clavin

All Blood Runs Red is the incredible life story of Eugene Bullard, the first African-American military pilot to fly in combat and only African-American pilot in WWI. Bullard went on to become a self-taught jazz musician, a Paris nightclub impresario, a spy in the French Resistance, and an American civil rights pioneer. This incredible history book is by award-winning and bestselling authors Phil Keith and Tom Clavin.

Black Klansman (2014) by Ron Stallworth ‍

Black Klansman is the story of a black Colorado police officer’s incredibly risky infiltration of a white supremacist hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Ron Stallworth, the first black detective in the history of the Colorado Springs Police Department, went undercover posing as a white man. Spike Lee later turned the story into a Hollywood blockbuster starring John David Washington. 

Freedom! (2022) by Jetta Grace Martin, Waldo E. Martin, C. J. Bloom & The Black Panther Party (2012) by David F. Walker‍

The Black Panther Party launched a revolution and once it got going, it became more than any one person could have imagined. Freedom! is the story of Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, founders of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and their supporters and allies. Critics call the book a ‘passionate, honest, and intimate look’ into the history of America’s civil rights movement. Meanwhile, David F. Walker’s graphic novel, The Black Panther Party (2021), is a gripping illustrated history exploring the impact of the Panthers, from their social, educational, and healthcare programs to their battle against police brutality.
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Hidden Figures (2016) by Margot Lee Shetterly

The phenomenal true story of the black female Nasa mathematicians whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. The problem-solvers were originally math teachers in the South’s segregated public schools but answered Uncle Sam’s call during the labor shortages of WWII. With jobs at the Langley field research center in Hampton, Virginia, they finally pushed their skills to the limits.

Immortal Valor (2022) by Robert Child

The remarkable story of seven African American soldiers, initially denied the WWII Medal of Honor, and the 50-year campaign to be recognized. Of the nearly 500 candidates and 1m African-Americans who served, not a single black soldier received the Medal of Honor for decades. More than half a century after the war, President Clinton honored the men at the White House. These are their stories.

No More Lies (1971) by Dick Gregory

American comedian, civil rights leader, and entrepreneur Dick Gregory challenged one of the foundations of America in the 1970s - its history, written almost exclusively from the white male perspective. In No More Lies he addresses African Americans and US race relations with a satirist’s intellectual, conspiratorial, and humorous spin on the facts. No subject is off limits. Gregory’s book is as relevant today as it was in the 1970s.

Righteous Troublemakers (2022) by Rev. Al Sharpton

Righteous Troublemakers shines a light on everyday people called to do extraordinary things - people like Pauli Murray, whose early work informed Thurgood Marshall’s legal argument for Brown v. Board of Education. Sharpton also touches on Claudette Colvin, a woman who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus months before civil rights heroine Rosa Parks - brilliantly portrayed by Angela Bassett in the movie - did the same. 
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Unwanted Spy (2019) by Jeffrey Sterling

When CIA officer and lawyer Jeffrey Sterling lodged a racial discrimination complaint against the Agency, he was fired. He sued for discrimination and for obstructing the publication of his memoir but also spoke as a whistleblower to Congress about a covert operation that went wrong in Iran. After a few quiet years in Missouri with his wife, Sterling was arrested and charged with espionage. Unwanted Spy is his story and views of justice and integrity in America.
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The Young Crusaders (2021) by V.P. Franklin

The courageous actions of unheralded young people during the Civil Rights Movement laid the groundwork for today’s youth-oriented protest movements including Climate Strike, March for Our Lives, and Black Lives Matter, reigniting the next wave of social and political activism. The Young Crusaders explores the teens who stood up and made history, including the Little Rock Nine who were escorted to school by soldiers in 1957.