Afinalistforthe2023NationalBookCriticsCircleAwardNamedoneofthetenbestbooksof2023byTheWashingtonPostChicagoTribuneTimeANewYorkTimesbestsellerandnotablebookof2023OneofBarackObama’sfavoritebooksof2023OneofTheNewYorker’sessentialreadsof2023AChristianScienceMonitorbestbookoftheyearOneofAirMail’stwelvebestbooksof2023AWashingtonPostandNationalIndieBestsellerOneofPublishersWeekly’sbestnonfictionbooksof2023OneofSmithsonianmagazine’stenbestbooksof2023“Supple,penetrating,heartstring-pullingandcompulsivelyreadable...Eig’sbookisworthyofitssubject.“--DwightGarner,TheNewYorkTimes(Editors’Choice)“[Kingis]infusedwiththenarrativeenergyofathriller...ThemostcompellingaccountofKing’slifeinageneration.“--MarkWhitaker,TheWashingtonPost“NobookcouldbemoretimelythanJonathanEig’ssweepingandmajesticnewKing...Eighascreated2023′smostvitaltome.“--WillBunch,ThePhiladelphiaInquirerHailedbyTheNewYorkTimesas“thenewdefinitivebiography,“KingmixesrevelatorynewresearchwithaccessiblestorytellingtoofferanMLKforourtimes.Vividlywrittenandexhaustivelyresearched,JonathanEig’sKing:ALifeisthefirstmajorbiographyindecadesofthecivilrightsiconMartinLutherKingJr.--andthefirsttoincluderecentlydeclassifiedFBIfiles.Inthisrevelatorynewportraitofthepreacherandactivistwhoshooktheworld,thebestsellingbiographergivesusanintimateviewofthecourageousandoftenemotionallytroubledhumanbeingwhodemandedpeacefulprotestforhismovementbutwasrarelyatpeacewithhimself.HecastsfreshlightontheKingfamily’soriginsaswellasMLK’scomplexrelationshipswithhiswife,father,andfellowactivists.Kingrevealsaministerwrestlingwithhisownhumanfrailtiesanddarkmoods,acitizenhuntedbyhisowngovernment,andamandeterminedtofightforjusticeevenifitprovedtobeafighttothedeath.AshefollowsMLKfromtheclassroomtothepulpittothestreetsofBirmingham,Selma,andMemphis,Eigdramaticallyre-createsthejourneyofamanwhorecastAmericanracerelationsandbecameouronlymodern-dayfoundingfather--aswellasthenation’smostmournedmartyr.Inthislandmarkbiography,EiggivesusanMLKforourtimes:adeepthinker,abrilliantstrategist,andacommittedradicalwholedoneofhistory’sgreatestmovements,andwhosedemandsforracialandeconomicjusticeremainasurgenttodayastheywereinhislifetime.Includes8pagesofblack-and-whitephotographs
