Synopsis Protest has always been a predominant theme of all black writings specially the novel. During the depression era social protest had become t he focus of literary imagination of Afro-American novelist. Like other black writers of post war period Baldwin tried not only to break free from protest tradition but also to make this antiprotest literature as literature of universal implication. The present volume on Baldwin is a pioneering work that attempts to establish that Baldwin’s aesthetics marks a break from mere protest on one hand and mere secular or assimilationist approach on the other. The book is a comprehensive and effective exposition of Baldwin’s persistent concern with protagonist’s perpetual struggle to evolve alternative strategies beyond the conventionally accepted method of protest to cope with pressures of contemporary American realities without loosing consciousness of his racial moorings. The book provides an in-depth analysis of writer’s themes, characters and techniques for a fuller comprehension of various horizons of Baldwin’s philosophic thought as depicted in his novels. In that way the book constitutes a significant advance in Baldwin criticism.