Alex Haley’s most famous book is Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976), which traces seven generations of his ancestors from Africa through enslavement in America to Haley’s genealogical quest in the 20th century. Haley was inspired by the stories he heard as a child from his grandmother and great-aunts, whose tales traced the family’s lineage to an African ancestor named “Kin-tay” (Kunta Kinte). In 1977 Roots was adapted into a television miniseries that was one of the most-watched programs in the history of American television. The book also spurred many Americans, especially Black Americans, to research their genealogies.
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