King
Book description
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig's King is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. - and the first to include recently declassified FBI files.
In this revelatory new portrait of the preacher and activist who…
Why read it?
3 authors picked King as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
There are many books on Martin Luther King but this is the definitive one, certainly the place to start.
Eig is a master of narrative pacing and the use of anecdotes to bring his subject to life. The book totally engaged me, even thrilled me, especially his treatment of King’s 1963 “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” the largest gathering for civil rights of its time.
His masterful pacing and incorporation of life-giving details are truly brilliant. Eig provides a balanced portrayal of King, his talents and flaws, the motivating role of his calling as a pastor, and reveals…
From Will's list on inspiring biographies.
Written with true marvelousity, this overdue biography of King reads like a movie you can hold.
Supported by both fresh interviews and old family histories long overlooked, King’s wife, Coretta, is valiantly lifted from obscurity even while her husband exemplifies the truth that habits are harder to break than promises.
Eig is truly one of our generation’s master storytellers.
This recently published biography offers a far more nuanced view of King than I had previously.
By accessing newly available resources and utilizing new research techniques such as computer-assisted textual analysis, the author reveals aspects of King’s life that make him more human (e.g., a history of plagiarism, an aversion to allowing women to assume leadership roles in the civil rights movement) but also show his resilience.
When I finished this book, I found myself in awe of what he accomplished, flaws and all, in a life that lasted only 39 years.
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