King : : a Life

Locations
Call Number: Black Studies 921 King, Martin Luther, Jr., Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Social Activists / King, Martin Luther, Jr., 921 King, Martin Luther, Jr.
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Black Studies 921 King, Martin Luther, Jr.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Social Activists / King, Martin Luther, Jr.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Social Activists / King, Martin Luther, Jr.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Social Activists / King, Martin Luther, Jr.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 King, Martin Luther, Jr.	4-week checkout	Due 04-30-2025
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 King, Martin Luther, Jr.	4-week checkout	Due 04-27-2025
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Social Activists / King, Martin Luther, Jr.	4-week checkout	Due 05-02-2025

"The first full biography in decades, "King" mixes revelatory and exhaustive new research with brisk and accessible storytelling to forge the definitive life for our times"-- Provided by publisher.
Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life 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 shook the world, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself. He casts fresh light on the King family’s origins as well as MLK’s complex relationships with his wife, father, and fellow activists. King reveals a minister wrestling with his own human frailties and dark moods, a citizen hunted by his own government, and a man determined to fight for justice even if it proved to be a fight to the death. As he follows MLK from the classroom to the pulpit to the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Memphis, Eig dramatically re-creates the journey of a man who recast American race relations and became our only modern-day founding father—as well as the nation’s most mourned martyr.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Welcome and thorough biography submitted by apf1950 on August 13, 2023, 10:59am This book is well written and makes use of recently declassified material. It covers King, warts and all, and is broad in comparing him to other leaders and analyzing his relationships with them.

One thing I came away with was disappointment in how we often view the Montgomery bus boycott. I taught American Government at two universities for years and always showed the segment on the boycott from "Eyes on the Prize." That could leave students with a sense of victory in the war against segregation. Eig demonstrates that it was only a skirmish. For example, the city's leaders shut down its parks for six years rather than integrate them.

Another thing I might have liked was a bit more on the political context in Atlanta. In 1958, the city's oldest synagogue was bombed in what Melissa Fay Greene concludes was the rabbi's opposition to segregation. It's also another reminder of groups like the KKK targeting Jews and Catholics.

I'm glad that earlier rad the Hoover biography, "G-Man." Eig also reminds leaders of another round of declassified documents becoming available in 2027.

Complex and Shallowly Understood submitted by erik.barbara on July 22, 2024, 8:07am This book reveals a depth to MLK that we don't see in classrooms or society. A man who did much for America and Americans but with deep flaws himself. A really great read to understand more about MLK, his legacy, and how much further we have to go.