Most Popular Books by Martin Luther King

Presents the life, words, and principles of the noted civil rights worker through extensive quotations from his speeches and writings.

First in a series of 14 volumes, this book contains the complete texts of King''s letters, speeches, sermons, student papers, and other articles. The papers range chronologically from his childhood to his young manhood. An introductory biographical essay presents a broad picture of the events that the documents themselves cover, while extensive annotations of the documents deal with specific details of King''s life during these years. The passion that drove him is observable in nearly every document. ISBN 0-520-07950-7:

Celebrated Stanford University historian Clayborne Carson is the director and editor of the Martin Luther King Papers Project; with thousands of King''s essays, notes, letters, speeches, and sermons at his disposal, Carson has organized King''s writings into a posthumous autobiography. In an early student essay, King prophetically penned: "We cannot have an enlightened democracy with one great group living in ignorance.... We cannot have a nation orderly and sound with one group so ground down and thwarted that it is almost forced into unsocial attitudes and crime." Such statements, made throughout King''s career, are skillfully woven together into a coherent narrative of the quest for social justice. The autobiography delves, for example, into the philosophical training King received at Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University, where he consolidated the teachings of Afro-American theologian Benjamin Mays with the philosophies of Locke, Rousseau, Gandhi, and Thoreau. Through King''s voice, the reader intimately shares in his trials and triumphs, including the Montgomery Boycott, the 1963 "I Have a Dream Speech," the Selma March, and the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. In one of his last speeches, King reminded his audience that "in the final analysis, God does not judge us by the separate incidents or the separate mistakes that we make, but by the total bent of our lives." Carson''s skillful editing has created an original argument in King''s favor that draws directly from the source, illuminating the circumstances of King''s life without deifying his person. --Eugene Holley Jr.

"We''ve got some difficult days ahead," civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., told a crowd gathered at Memphis''s Clayborn Temple on April 3, 1968. "But it really doesn''t matter to me now because I''ve been to the mountaintop. . . . And I''ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land." These prohetic words, uttered the day before his assassination, challenged those he left behind to see that his "promised land" of racial equality became a reality; a reality to which King devoted the last twelve years of his life. These words and other are commemorated here in the only major one-volume collection of this seminal twentieth-century American prophet''s writings, speeches, interviews, and autobiographical reflections. A Testament of Hope contains Martin Luther King, Jr.''s essential thoughts on nonviolence, social policy, integration, black nationalism, the ethics of love and hope, and more.

The classic collection of Dr. King’s sermons that fuse his Christian teachings with his radical ideas of love and nonviolence as a means to combat hate and oppression. As Martin Luther King, Jr., prepared for the Birmingham campaign in early 1963, he drafted the final sermons for Strength to Love, a volume of his most well known homilies. King had begun working on the sermons during a fortnight in jail in July 1962. While behind bars, he spent uninterrupted time preparing the drafts for works such as “Loving Your Enemies” and “Shattered Dreams,” and he continued to edit the volume after his release. Strength to Love includes these classic sermons selected by Dr. King. Collectively they present King’s fusion of Christian teachings and social consciousness and promote his prescient vision of love as a social and political force for change.

Selections from Dr. King''s speeches and writings illustrating his vision, his passion, and his faith.

In November and December 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered five lectures for the renowned Massey Lecture Series of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The collection was immediately released as a book under the title Conscience for Change, but after King’s assassination in 1968, it was republished as The Trumpet of Conscience. The collection sums up his lasting creed and is his final testament on racism, poverty, and war. Each oration in this volume encompasses a distinct theme and speaks prophetically to today’s perils, addressing issues of equality, conscience and war, the mobilization of young people, and nonviolence. Collectively, they reveal some of King’s most introspective reflections and final impressions of the movement while illustrating how he never lost sight of our shared goals for justice. The book concludes with “A Christmas Sermon on Peace”—a powerful lecture that was broadcast live from Ebenezer Baptist Church on Christmas Eve in 1967. In it King articulates his long-term vision of nonviolence as a path to world peace.

Why nonviolence matters Eloquent and passionate, reasoned and sensitive, this pair of meditations by the revered civil-rights leader contains the theological roots of his political and social philosophy of nonviolent activism.

MLK’s classic account of the first successful large-scale act of nonviolent resistance in America: the Montgomery bus boycott. A young Dr. King wrote Stride Toward Freedom just 2 years after the successful completion of the boycott. In his memoir about the event, he tells the stories that informed his radical political thinking before, during, and after the boycott—from first witnessing economic injustice as a teenager and watching his parents experience discrimination to his decision to begin working with the NAACP. Throughout, he demonstrates how activism and leadership can come from any experience at any age. Comprehensive and intimate, Stride Toward Freedom emphasizes the collective nature of the movement and includes King’s experiences learning from other activists working on the boycott, including Mrs. Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin. It traces the phenomenal journey of a community and shows how the 28-year-old Dr. King, with his conviction for equality and nonviolence, helped transform the nation and the world.

Volume 5 of the planned 14 volume series, brings us to a pivotal moment in the career of Dr King. After a visit to India in 1959 he revitalised the Southern Christian Leadership Conference & propelled himself to a leading role in the renewed activism of 1960.

Quotations by the civil rights leader cover such issues as race, justice, and human dignity.

The first collection of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.''s essential writings for high school students and young people—with eighteen selections including "I Have a Dream," "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and "What Is Your Life''s Blueprint?" “[Students] are in reality standing up for the best in the American dream. . . . One day historians will record this student movement as one of the most significant epics of our heritage.” —from “The Time for Freedom Has Come” A Time to Break Silence presents the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most important writings and speeches—carefully selected by teachers across a variety of disciplines—in an accessible and user-friendly volume for students. Arranged thematically in six parts, the collection includes eighteen selections and is introduced by award-winning author Walter Dean Myers. Included are some of Dr. King’s most well-known and frequently taught classic works, like “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream,” as well as lesser-known pieces such as “The Sword that Heals” and “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?,” which speak to issues young people face today. Teachers guide and companion curriculum developed by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University available online through www.thekinglegacy.org/teachers

Martin Luther King’s classic exploration of the events and forces behind the Civil Rights Movement—including his Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963. “There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair.” In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, was perhaps the most racially segregated city in the United States. The campaign launched by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights movement on the segregated streets of Birmingham demonstrated to the world the power of nonviolent direct action. In this remarkable book—winner of the Nobel Peace Prize—Dr. King recounts the story of Birmingham in vivid detail, tracing the history of the struggle for civil rights back to its beginnings three centuries ago and looking to the future, assessing the work to be done beyond Birmingham to bring about full equality for African Americans. Above all, Dr. King offers an eloquent and penetrating analysis of the events and pressures that propelled the Civil Rights movement from lunch counter sit-ins and prayer marches to the forefront of American consciousness. Since its publication in the 1960s, Why We Can’t Wait has become an indisputable classic. Now, more than ever, it is an enduring testament to the wise and courageous vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. Includes photographs and an Afterword by Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

With a new foreword by Viet Thanh Nguyen A beautiful commemorative edition of Dr. Martin Luther King''s speech "Beyond Vietnam,” part of Dr. King''s archives published exclusively by HarperCollins. At New York City''s Riverside Church in 1967, Dr. King stood in front of a rapt audience and criticized the Vietnam War as a destructive act of force and a cruel manipulation of the poor—for those fighting on either side. He urged Americans to confront the harsh realities of war and consequently pursue a path where everyone is presented a choice, in his words, "a choice of nonviolent coexistence instead of violent coannihilation.” This beautifully designed hardcover edition presents Dr. King’s speech in its entirety, paying tribute to this extraordinary leader and his immeasurable contribution, and inspiring a new generation of activists dedicated to carrying on the fight for justice and equality.