Winner of the Pulitzer Prize: The definitive biography of Martin Luther King Jr. In this monumental account of the life of Martin Luther King Jr., professor and historian David Garrow traces King's evolution from young pastor who spearheaded the 1955–56 bus boycott of Montgomery, Alabama, to inspirational leader of America's civil rights movement. Based on extensive research and more than seven hundred interviews, with subjects including Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, and Coretta Scott King, Garrow paints a multidimensional portrait of a charismatic figure driven by his strong moral obligation to lead-and of the toll this calling took on his life. Bearing the Cross provides a penetrating account of King's spiritual development and his crucial role at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, whose protest campaigns in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama, led to enactment of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. This comprehensive yet intimate study reveals the deep sense of mission King felt to serve as an unrelenting crusader against prejudice, inequality, and violence, and his willingness to sacrifice his own life on behalf of his beliefs. Written more than twenty-five years ago, Bearing the Cross remains an unparalleled examination of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and the legacy of the civil rights movement.
"Comprehensive, incisive and objective, based on thorough and wide-ranging research, Bearing the Cross presents a great leader in all his frailty and his valor."
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
"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
"David Garrow's new biography is by all odds the definitive work on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. Bearing the Cross is an extraordinary, insightful monument to a great American; a masterpiece of scholarly reconstruction and interpretation. It will come to mind whenever King's name is invoked."
