Parting the Waters
America in the King Years 1954-63
Simon & Schuster · Print & ebook · November 15, 1989
In Parting the Waters, the first volume of his essential America in the King Years series, Pulitzer Prize winner Taylor Branch gives a “compelling…masterfully told” (The Wall Street Journal) account of Martin Luther King’s early years and rise to greatness.
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- Who it’s for
- A wide-angle account of King’s early years and the political conflicts surrounding the civil rights struggle.
- Themes
- American Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr.’s rise, Political struggle for justice
- Genres
- Activist Lives, Black & African American Lives, 20th-Century America
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For younger readers: Master of Deceit, Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.?, I Am Martin Luther King, Jr.
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In Parting the Waters, the first volume of his essential America in the King Years series, Pulitzer Prize winner Taylor Branch gives a “compelling…masterfully told” (The Wall Street Journal) account of Martin Luther King’s early years and rise to greatness. Hailed as the most masterful story ever told of the American Civil Rights Movement, Parting the Waters is destined to endure for generations.
Continue reading
Moving from the fiery political baptism of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the corridors of Camelot where the Kennedy brothers weighed demands for justice against the deceptions of J. Edgar Hoover, here is a vivid tapestry of America, torn and finally transformed by a revolutionary struggle unequaled since the Civil War. Taylor Branch provides an unsurpassed portrait of King's rise to greatness and illuminates the stunning courage and private conflict, the deals, maneuvers, betrayals, and rivalries that determined history behind closed doors, at boycotts and sit-ins, on bloody freedom rides, and through siege and murder. Epic in scope and impact, Branch's chronicle definitively captures one of the nation's most crucial passages.
Public Struggle, Private Tension
A wide-angle account of King’s early years and the political conflicts surrounding the civil rights struggle.
Come here for
- King’s rise set within a defining American struggle
- The interplay of public campaigns and political maneuvering
Expect
- Boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom rides alongside closed-door decisions
- A sustained narrative attentive to courage and private conflict
Where it sits
| Activist Lives | 42% |
|---|---|
| Black & African American Lives | 38% |
| 20th-Century America | 35% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Political Lives
- 20th-Century America
- Civil Rights
- Authors
- Taylor Branch
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Published
- November 15, 1989
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- American Civil Rights Movement · Martin Luther King Jr.’s rise · Political struggle for justice
- Reading lane
- Political Lives