King cover art

King

The Life of Martin Luther King

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King

By: Jonathan Eig
Narrated by: Dion Graham
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About this listen

 A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
*SELECTED AS ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2023*

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 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 its only modern-day founding father – as well as the nation’s most mourned martyr.

In this landmark biography, Eig gives us an MLK for our times: a deep thinker, a brilliant strategist, and a committed radical who led one of history’s greatest movements, and whose demands for racial and economic justice remain as urgent today as they were in his lifetime.
©2023 Jonathan Eig. All rights reserved. (P)2023 Macmillan Audio US. All Rights Reserved. Activists Historical Military & War Politicians Politics & Activism Social justice Martin Luther King Black power movement Civil rights Africa

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All stars
Most relevant
Very enjoyable read, remarkable story with fantastic narration. Updated to reflect new facts and insights on the life of an icon

Great story, Fantastic narration

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Very quick pace, exciting and tense at times, forcing thoughtful reflection at others.
Highly recommended one of my favourite biographies I’ve read - on par with Haileys autobiography of Malcolm X and other towering books of that nature that try to examine the man more deeply, flaws and all
Superb narration and this was very impactful

Stunningly good - a celebration of the man and his ideas

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wonderful story very strong man never forgotten ..we will all remember. he did a lot for people

Great book

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A testimony of strength & resistance. An amazing man in representation of an amazing people. Perfectly written and executed. Bravo!

A story of a true king!

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I enjoyed much of this book, mostly the later parts, which is the first biography of MLK I have read. I found the first half of the book a bit dry. There were generic statements, for example, that MLK’s family didn’t see enough of him; or that Malcolm X didn’t trust white people in power. Obvious perhaps, but they still need facts to support them, and facts would also provide the specific details that might bring the story more to life. The same goes for MLK’s womanising and more detail of those relationships and how they were sustained was needed. I appreciate it might be difficult to obtain details of this kind but these relationships were a major part of his life.

Details were incorporated into descriptions of the boycotts, sit ins, and marches, and made these sections more powerful.

There were jumps in the narrative I found hard to follow, particularly at the start of some chapters. The March on Detroit is introduced without clear explanation of how it came about. There’s no explanation that much of the speech MLK gave there would become the famous speech at the subsequent March on Washington, so when the Detroit speech was described I had to refer to the internet to clarify what was happening. I accept that perhaps most people know more about these events than I do and might not require the context.

From the March on Washington the book becomes much more engaging and feels like a coherent narrative idea is carrying it along, as MLK both civil rights and anti-war activist, attracting the ire of LBJ and J Edgar Hoover, and creating tension with partners in the civil rights movement.

This was a rewarding book and helped me more fully to understand why MLK is one of the most remarkable people in modern history. The book conveys his brilliance and bravery, But perhaps the author’s stated commitment to avoid hallowing MLK with a two dimensional hagiographic portrait is what renders the book a bit two dimensional. Perhaps avoiding hagiography is itself a kind of moralising. I would rather the author recounted the available facts in an engaging way.

On the reading/performance: When read in understated and straightforward style it was excellent. However, I do not like it when readers perform different voices for different speakers in a book, as in this case. The recurring impersonation of MLK when quoting him directly was distracting rather than enriching, and recordings of the speeches are available. Similarly distracting was the slight falsetto adopted for quoting Coretta Scott King and other women. I assume some producers prefer this performative approach but I can’t believe any listener finds it helpful.

Overall I recommend this book but that is partly because this is the only major bio of MLK on Audible. My sense is that at least in terms of style and narrative approach it is not definitive, and I will be reading David Garrow’s trilogy next (which regrettably is not on audible).

Good but perhaps not definitive

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