Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance
Kindle
$12.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$16.48
Paperback
$15.19
Audible Logo Your audiobook is waiting!
Enjoy a free trial on us
$0.00
  • Click above for unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
  • One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection — yours to keep (you'll use your first credit now).
  • You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
  • $14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.
Learn more about membership
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
List Price: $25.19
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice.
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Alvin Hall (Author, Narrator), HarperAudio (Publisher)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 52 ratings
Editors' pick Best Nonfiction
See all formats and editions

Join award-winning broadcaster Alvin Hall on a journey through America’s haunted racial past, with the legendary Green Book as your guide.

For countless Americans, the open road has long been a place where dangers lurk. In the era of Jim Crow, Black travelers encountered locked doors, hostile police, and potentially violent encounters almost everywhere, in both the South and the North. From 1936 to 1967, millions relied onThe Negro Motorist Green Book, the definitive guide to businesses where they could safely rest, eat, or sleep.

Most Americans only know of the guide from the 2018 Green Book movie or the 2020 Lovecraft Country TV show. Alvin Hall set out to revisit the world of the Green Book to instruct us all on the real history of the guide that saved many lives. With his friend Janée Woods Weber, he drove from New York to Detroit to New Orleans, visiting motels, restaurants, shops, and stores where Black Americans once found a friendly welcome. They explored historical and cultural landmarks, from the theatres and clubs where stars like Duke Ellington and Lena Horne performed to the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Along the way, they gathered memories from some of the last living witnesses for whom the Green Book meant survival—remarkable people who not only endured but rose above the hate, building vibrant Black communities against incredible odds.

Driving the Green Book is a vital work of national history as well as a hopeful chronicle of Black resilience and resistance.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    9 hours and 41 minutes
  2. Author
    Alvin Hall
  3. Narrator
    Alvin Hall
  4. Audible release date
    January 31, 2023
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    HarperAudio
  7. ASIN
    B0B2KHRDVY
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
Next page

Product details

Listening Length 9 hours and 41 minutes
Author Alvin Hall
Narrator Alvin Hall
Audible.com Release Date January 31, 2023
Publisher HarperAudio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0B2KHRDVY
Best Sellers Rank #154,930 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#81 in Automotive Engineering (Audible Books & Originals)
#336 in African American Demographic Studies (Audible Books & Originals)
#429 in Automotive History (Books)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
52 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Chesney Hoagland-Fuchs
5.0 out of 5 stars American History and Your Local Heroes Are Here
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
Very well written, fascinating and it's such important American history, not "African American History". I especially like how this book shows the worst of that shame but also the absolutely amazing things that this community did in response. It also tells the story of emerging middle class and the joy of opening opportunities.
This New Orleanian loved learning about Ellis Marsalis Sr, his connection with Esso and his activism leadership. The Marsalis family is so elegant, so distinguished-every single one of them-and even before the family musicians made them famous, you could just tell by their behavior that they are like royalty.
I actually had the honor to know Leah Chase (Ms Leah to me) a little bit. All of our conversations were about adapting Creole and Soul recipes to be heart healthy and diabetes friendly. She never stopped using her amazing talents to improve life for her community. And her community was everyone of every race and creed.
I'm loving this book and conversation and I think you will too, your hometown heroes are probably celebrated
13 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Gregory Hays
5.0 out of 5 stars Mom’s Gift
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2024
Verified Purchase
My mother is a true Wordsmith. I got this for her.
Helpful
 Report
Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Still have miles to go.
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2023
I "knew" about the Green Book from stories my parents told. They knew musicians who planned routes and jobs using the guide. I first-hand knew about housing, educational, and occupational discrimination, watching how different people I went to school with were treated. We were taught about the destruction of the Hill District's business district and subsequent displacement of Black residents in order to put a white elephant of a civic space in. I have a friend who is a 6-foot- plus Black man who drove across the United States, who planned his route in the hopes of avoiding sundown towns ( in 2022). The conversations in this book are so valuable to us all.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jacquelyn J. Caccia
5.0 out of 5 stars History can be painful but we need to know it anyway.
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book was like a repetitive gut punch. Some things that were mentioned, I knew about. Maybe a little. Some things a little more. But I can tell you that I didn't learn about our country's pervasive system of racism in any classroom. This is the type of book that we must read. Must discuss. Must come to terms with. I thought several times that the book would join the list of 'banned' books because its truth is so compelling. I highly recommend it.
9 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Tawana Cook Purnell
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read!
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2023
Verified Purchase
With impactful language and imagery, Alvin Hall brings history to life, a sordid reminder of our past - and yet he somehow provides us with a glimpse of a hopeful future - with voices that ring clear and true.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Alain Raineau
5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Look At History
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2023
Verified Purchase
Unlike others, I knew about The Green Book since I stumbled across it while doing research for a college paper. But Alvin Hall does not just tell us about The Green Book, he brilliantly puts it in historical and current context, making us think about it symbolically.
7 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
elove
5.0 out of 5 stars history
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2023
Verified Purchase
Learn from your past, to stop from being repeated in the future, some of the stories are from 2015 and up
Helpful
 Report
W. W. Parsons
5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required high school reading
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
Discovered reasons for the psychological hardships of people of color
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report