Excellent recommendations. No list is complete and they change over time. I consider a top ten or five list as recommendations of excellent works to be engaged in. I’ve read numerous of these, but missed four of them and glad to add to my list. Baldwin is a genius and watching him engage in (and destroy in my opinion) William Buckley in the famous televised debate shows what a fantastic and eloquent speaker Baldwin was—see the clip on YouTube. The idea of plagiarism has been used against another King not on the list (MLK Jr.). The charge is irrelevant. Their greatest works (both Roots and MLK’s speeches and deeds) should be not diminished, even if the did “steal” a couple of sentences of paragraphs. Trying to “lower” them or their status won’t work with me, so glad you put Roots on your list.