n the tenth anniversary of his death, Vintage Books and The Modern Library look back on the writing of one of America's greatest writers and most important intellectuals. James Baldwin, through novels, essays, social criticism, and drama, explored the American condition in a new language of unmatched depth, passion, and surgical precision. His works' potential for transforming both the American consciousness and conscience is still just beginning to be registered. Baldwin's excavation of America emerged at a crucial moment in our collective history, and, ten years after his death, the questions he raised continue to resonate with the hope and despair--and to take the defining shape--his voice gave to them.