"Between Freedom and Bondage" is a brilliant book that meticulously illustrates "race formation" and the shaping of American politics in the antebellum north. In this book, Dr. Christopher Malone depicts the enfranchisement of blacks due to the changing economic structure of racial conflict, the changing partisan structure of race affiliation and the changing discursive structure of racial coalition using New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts as exemplary case studies. Dr. Malone also includes fascinating quotes and actual zealous arguments from political, social and literary figures of the time throughout his text. "Between Freedom and Bondage" is an exceptional, incredibly well-researched and completely enthralling account of how African Americans gained the right to vote in the United States, and its links to present racial issues that still face us today.