A civil rights sage set in 1920 won out over the 9/11 Report to get the non-fiction National Book Award Wednesday night.

"Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age," an account of the struggles of an African American in Detroit in the 1920s, took the trophy, disappointing the many who had contributed to and orchestrated the publishing industry's surprise bestseller of the year, the 9/11 Commission Report.

"Arc of Justice" author Kevin Boyle seemed awed by the triumph of his book, about the efforts of a man named Ossian Sweet to integrate a white neighborhood. He expounded on the unfinished work of integrating American cities. "Eighty years on, the system of segregation that Dr. Ossian Sweet confronted is still in place," Boyle said, "including in this extraordinary city that we're in at the moment."