Roots was the 1977 Pulitzer-winning novel written by Alex Haley.
Subtitled The Saga of an American Family, Roots traces several generations of an African American family, beginning with Kunta Kinte, who is captured in West Africa and sold into slavery in colonial North America. The narrative follows his descendants through slavery, emancipation, and later American history.
Haley presented the work as a combination of family history and historical fiction. Its publication in 1976 produced a major cultural response, and the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction recognized the book’s impact and narrative ambition. The novel also became the basis for the influential 1977 television miniseries Roots.
The book’s historical documentation later became the subject of debate, especially concerning some of Haley’s claims about genealogy and source material. That controversy does not change the basic Pulitzer fact: Roots received the 1977 Fiction Pulitzer. It is also distinct from Haley’s earlier nonfiction work, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which he coauthored with Malcolm X.