Monarchs of Minstrelsy is Edward Le Roy Rice’s compilation documenting the history of the American minstrel show, from the early days of “Daddy” Rice to the early twentieth century. The book gathers biographical sketches and portraits of the performers who populated this once-dominant form of popular entertainment.
As a historical record, the volume preserves a vast amount of detail about the troupes, stars, and developments of minstrelsy. Modern readers will recognise that the genre rested on racial caricature and was deeply offensive in its practices; the book is valuable today chiefly as documentation of a controversial chapter in American entertainment history rather than as celebration. It remains a detailed reference for historians of the period.