Description:
This book provides an up-to-date critical analysis of the relationship between King and the wider civil rights movement. Delivering a fresh perspective on the relationship between 'the man and the movement', Kirk argues that it is the interactionbetween national and local movement concerns that is essential to understanding King's leadership and black activism in the 1950s and 1960s. Kirk examines King's strengths and his limitations, and weighs the role that king played in then movement alongside the contributions of other civil rights organizations and leaders, and local civil rights activists. Suitable for undergraduate courses in 20th century US history.
Review Quotes:
"the finest brief biography of King currently on the market"
Patterns of Prejudice
"... a very fine introduction to the major themes of the civil rights movement"
Institute of Historical Research
"John A. Kirk's study achieves its aim of contextualizing King's contribution to the civil rights movement and evaluating his career."
Journal of American Studies, Volume 39 - 2005
"The book would work as a supplemental text in survey courses or other classes that emphasize political history, leadership, government or the civil rights movement. Gives readers a glimpse of the political leadership of Martin Luther King Jr".
S. Jonathan Bass, Samford University