As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Home / Books / Ragtime
Ragtime cover

Book

Ragtime

by E. L. Doctorow

Buy the book from:

Amazon World of Books
Audio available 4.2

Beginning in New Rochelle in 1906, the novel brings together an affluent white family, the Jewish immigrant Tateh and his daughter, and the Black ragtime pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. Their lives intersect as industrial wealth, mass immigration, new technology and racial injustice transform American society before the First World War.

Historical figures including Harry Houdini, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan and Evelyn Nesbit move through the fictional story. Tateh’s reinvention in the emerging film industry contrasts with Coalhouse’s increasingly desperate demand for justice after racist humiliation and official indifference. The result is a family saga about social mobility, political violence and the unequal terms of American progress.

Historical periods

Gilded Age America

Genres

Court & Political Fiction Family Sagas Historical Sagas Social & Domestic Fiction

Historical people

Henry Ford

More by the author

Other books by E. L. Doctorow

View all books by this author