During the height of the movement, from 1967 to 1973, photographer Stephen Shames had unprecedented access to the organization and captured not only its public face—street demonstrations, protests, and militant posturing—but also unscripted behind-the-scenes moments, from private meetings held in the Party headquarters, to Bobby Seale at work on his mayoral campaign in Oakland. The Black Panthers (Aperture, October 2006) brings together for the first time a remarkable collection of never-before-published images from Shames’s archive. This illuminating volume reveals how Shames’s insider status enabled him to create an uncommonly nuanced portrait of this dynamic social movement, during one of the most tumultuous periods in U.S. history. Released on the occasion of the Party’s fortieth anniversary, The Black Panthers collectively conveys an electrifying visual history of one of America’s most important social movements.