Grandpa Stops a War: A Paul Robeson story Hardcover – Illustrated, January 22, 2019

Description

“It takes a man of peace to stop a war.”

Based on the true story of Paul Robeson’s visit to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War, comes this recollection of his bravery and activism by his granddaughter, Susan Robeson. When Susan was a child her father and grandfather told her family stories over and over. Grandpa Paul was a great man, a singer with a deep and rumbling voice, a man of peace and principle who worried about the safety of the children and families living in countries at war. His songs were always full of emotion, and evoking the African-American spirituals of his own father’s childhood, he was able to communicate even with people who didn’t speak the same language.

He wanted to use his voice to promote social justice all over the world. Though people warned Grandpa Paul that it was too dangerous, he traveled with his friend Captain Fernando to the battlefields of the Spanish Civil War to sing to the soldiers. There, he asked the soldiers to set up speakers facing the fighters on both sides of the battlefield. And then something amazing happened…

With gorgeous illustrations from fine artist Rod Brown ,Grandpa Stops a War celebrates Paul Robeson’s global activism and towering achievements, and shows readers the power of music in times of discord and war.

An author’s note helps readers learn more about the author’s personal experience growing up in the Robeson family, and gives parents, teachers, and librarians more in-depth material to expand the reader’s understanding of the war and Robeson as a champion of civil rights, global freedom, and world peace.