This was a fantastic read.

I was looking through my calendar one day when I realized that MLK Day was a couple of weeks away. I thought about it for a second and a sudden thought hit me – my knowledge of Mr. King as a person and his accomplishments were something I knew almost nothing about. I decided to change that.

Firstly, this isn’t your usual biography. Clayborne Carson was granted access to a trove of paperwork that included King’s sermons, publications in magazines, writings and speeches. Carson put these written works together to form a type of narrative. What the reader gets is insight directly from Martin Luther King Jr. on a slew of topics.

We learn about his years in college and learn about the books and people that inspired him to fully follow the philosophy of non-violent protest and revolution. He deeply believed that doing so would bring about much needed change that violent protest couldn’t achieve. Starting with the Montgomery Bus Boycott and every protest that bloomed afterwards we can see that the very act of kindness and love helped bring about a change in America.

Mr. King was an extremely intelligent man. Besides his studies, he was an extremely eloquent writer. To hear him speak was one thing; I think we’ve all have gotten shivers when listening to him read his “I Have A Dream” speech. But reading his words? An absolute treat.

On his reading and learning about different theologies:

"But my intellectual odyssey on nonviolence did not end here. During my senior year in theological seminary, I engaged in the exciting reading of various theological theories. Having been raised in a rather strict fundamentalist tradition, I was occasionally shocked when my intellectual journey carried me through new and sometimes complex doctrinal lands, but the pilgrimage was always stimulating; it gave me a new appreciation for objective appraisal and critical analysis, and knocked me out of my dogmatic slumber."

I haven’t even mentioned his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Holy cow.

The rest of his writings are amazing and will make you a better person, if you heed his words. I finished this book feeling the same way after finishing Malcolm X’s biography: filled with a new sense of urgency to help others. To be good to each other. To try and be a better person. To be more kind and generous. To combat hate with love. Things are better solved when the hands are not clenched in a fist but open for a handshake. Highly recommend! ( )

Martin Luther King Jr. was the most important voice of the American civil rights movement, which worked for equal rights for all. He was famous for using nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice.

This is an amazing autobiography. Dr. King never actually authored an official autobiography in his lifetime. This book was an effort resulting from the King Paper Project. Mrs. Coretta Scott King gave Claiborne Carson an opportunity to edit the papers of her husband. Mr. Carson painstakingly sorted through massive amounts of Dr. Kings writings, videos, audio and sermons to piece together a chronological timeline of Dr. Kings life.

I wouldn't say this is an exhaustive biography. There are points where certain aspects of his life lacks depth. But, I must say, there are many moving passages in this book, and lessons we could still learn from today. Maybe more now than ever. And it is nice reading his story in his own words.

I think this should be required reading for all High School students. Recommended. ( )

Awesome and phenomenal. I wanted to know more about Martin Luther King, Jr., having only learned a cursory amount in elementary, and this book was the perfect introduction. The book is a collection of his own words and presented in chronological order, which helps the reader understand not only how the Civil Rights Movement developed but also how King developed as well. He impressed me before but this book moved me - I cried on the last chapter even though he was killed forty-nine years ago. ( )

At the request of the family of Martin Luther King, Jr., King Scholar Claybourne Carson used Stanford University’s vast collection of King’s essays, his speeches and interviews with King, to construct this book, which tells the story of King’s life, with particular attention on his work for Civil Rights and equal opportunities for black Americans. Each chapter focuses on a specific time, campaign or incident, and describes not only the events taking place, but King’s own determination to keep going, the difficulties that he faced – both emotionally and physically – and the reasoning behind his actions, including his absolute determination that the campaign should be non-violent.

I found the book thoroughly absorbing. King was clearly an eloquent man with a passionate belief in justice for all, and this comes through on every page. I knew about the man and his life prior to picking up this book, but reading his thoughts in his own words was still very enlightening. I was full of admiration for a man who knew that his work put him in physical danger and indeed saw friends and colleagues die for the cause, who felt sometimes that he was fighting a losing (non-violent) battle, who encountered differences of opinion even within his own campaign, but yet refused to give up striving for what was right and fair.

Clayborne Carson has done a wonderful job of using King’s writings to build a clear chronological narrative, and it was often heartbreaking, but never less than inspiring to read. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. ( )