Alain LeRoy Locke’s drive to revolutionize black culture was fueled in no small part by his sense of self-importance.

A magisterial biography of the 20th-century philosopher, curator, and prime mover of the Harlem Renaissance.

With the exceptions of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, the term “Harlem Renaissance” is better known than the names of the artistic movement’s important figures.