These three insightful works-including Pulitzer Prize winner Bearing the Cross-span the remarkable life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This collection from professor and historian David J. Garrow provides a multidimensional and fascinating portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr., and his lifelong mission to upend prejudices deeply entrenched in society and enact legal change that would achieve equality for African Americans one hundred years after their emancipation from slavery. Bearing the Cross traces King's evolution from the young pastor who spearheaded the 1955–56 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, to the inspirational leader of America's civil rights movement, focusing on his crucial role at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Garrow captures King's charisma, his moral obligation to lead a nonviolent crusade against racism and inequality-and the toll this calling took on his life. Garrow delves deeper into one of the civil rights movement's most decisive moments in Protest at Selma. The Selma demonstrations led to the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, which, along with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, remains a key aspect of King's institutional legacy. Garrow analyzes King's political strategy and understanding of how media coverage-especially reports of white violence against peaceful African American protestors-elicited sympathy for the cause. King's fierce determination to overturn the status quo of racial relations antagonized FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. follows Hoover's personal obsession to destroy the civil rights leader. In an unprecedented abuse of governmental power, Hoover led one of the most invasive surveillance operations in American history, desperately trying to mar King's image. This meticulously researched and utterly engrossing collection is a key to understanding King's inner life, his public persona, and his legacy, and is a testament to his impact in forcing America to confront intolerance and bigotry at a critical time in the nation's history.
"A dazzling piece of reporting and scholarship. No one interested in the American civil rights movement, or in that remarkable human being, Martin Luther King, Jr., will be able to skip Bearing the Cross."
Anthony Lewis
"A valuable book, because it is a reminder of both the heroism and the brutality displayed in the great civil rights crusade."
The New Republic
"A quiet bombshell . . . Scholarly detection that leads to some provocative conclusions."
