The first complete and balanced history of the Black Panther Party--powerful and provocativeUntil The Shadow of the Panther there have been no serious book-length attempts to examine the Panthers' history and to evaluate their significance. . . . A Notable Book of the Year.--New York Times Book Review (front page)A keenly observed, often brilliant, Panther-busting book. . . . Pearson nevertheless portrays the Panthers' rise as an understandable reaction against . . . white chauvinism.--Los Angeles Times Book ReviewThis book will awaken profound misgivings--about gun-barrel rhetoric, about armed rebellion, about the ambiguities of justice.--The New YorkerA bracing experience . . . Pearson has been able to present enough hard evidence to draw a chilling portrait of Murder Incorporated in revolutionary dress.--New York NewsdayPearson . . . set out to write a very different book about his boyhood hero [Huey Newton] but didn't blink at the truth . . . honest and compelling judgment.--Detroit News