Rating: 
Summary: Very happy
Review: All i have to say is trust this person, they were very nice and sent my book right away. im happy with them.
Rating:
Summary: If Nothing Else
Review: As I sit here listening to Beethoven, it strikes me that MLK, like Beethoven, will be a man for all ages to come. Both have given the world a gift that we must cherish and always remember. Let me first say, that I too am glad that Dr. King did not sneeze. That would have been a loss of an unimaginable magnitude. The other reviewers of this book are on target. This is an extraordinary piece of literature that should be a must read for all students. I was midway through my seventh year when Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis. And although I remember the event it did not resonate fully with me until last year when I took a master's level Civil Rights course. Throughout my own formative years of primary, secondary, and post-secondary liberal arts education, none of my history or social studies courses concentrated on this era of American History. This is a sad commentary and an oversight that needs to change. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a great man in American History and must be given the credit deserving of his greatness - the book, as articulated by the other reviewers, provides a comprehensive look into that greatness. It is my opinion that God was truly with this man as he undertook his overwhelming mission to obtain freedom and equality for a people so maligned by the majority. This book was so well-written that I even read the Editor's Acknowledgements. It is so well-written that one can easily become lost in time and simply continue to read chapter after chapter. I could go on, but will stop. I wish to thank Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her undying devotion to her husband and his work; to console her for her unfathomable loss thirty-five years ago, and for not only reviewing this book for accuracy before publication, but also to permit its publication so that Americans from all backgrounds may appreciate and learn.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly conceived life of a brilliant man
Review: Dr. King has become such an American icon that it's easy to forget what a brilliant, passionate man he was. This "autobiography" will remind you. Clayborne Carson does a masterful job of weaving King's writings and speeches together into what serves as a credible autobiography but more importantly, as a chronicle of King's powerful oratory. I found the book an endless source of inspiration for me as a pacifist and believer in justice and equality for all. Here are the unforgettable words, not only of the "I Have A Dream Speech" and "The Letter From a Birmingham Jail" but other speeches and writings as well and the stories behind them. We are constantly reminded that King was both a determined and eloquent leader, who was the focal point of America's most succesful social movement. This is not only unique as an autobiography because it wasn't really written as such, but because it is such a rich source of wisdom and passion. It's a book to be read and kept handy. I'll be referring to it often and reading it again.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly conceived life of a brilliant man
Review: Dr. King has become such an American icon that it's easy to forget what a brilliant, passionate man he was. This "autobiography" will remind you. Clayborne Carson does a masterful job of weaving King's writings and speeches together into what serves as a credible autobiography but more importantly, as a chronicle of King's powerful oratory. I found the book an endless source of inspiration for me as a pacifist and believer in justice and equality for all. Here are the unforgettable words, not only of the "I Have A Dream Speech" and "The Letter From a Birmingham Jail" but other speeches and writings as well and the stories behind them. We are constantly reminded that King was both a determined and eloquent leader, who was the focal point of America's most succesful social movement. This is not only unique as an autobiography because it wasn't really written as such, but because it is such a rich source of wisdom and passion. It's a book to be read and kept handy. I'll be referring to it often and reading it again.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT BOOK
Review: I really liked the book. I thought that it was well written and easy to understand. I realized that it wasn't being wrote by Dr. King himself, so I had to read carefully and try to pick up MLK's ideas, instead the author's ideas. However, it was still a great book. I felt that Clayborne Carson did a good job when he composed the book. He took into consideration all of King's life, and the experiences which most influenced his fight towards freedom. I really liked the speeches delivered by Dr. King, as well as all of his other writtings. I like reading them because they are very motivational, and King uses powerful, profound words, which are convey his point in a very strong, and meaningful way. The book is excellent to read, it is a little bit long, but it features large print. I would recommend it to anyone. I think that everybody should read this book, just so everybody could understand where racism and prejudice comes from. We have to realize that all this is a thing of the past, and we have to put it behind us.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Attempt
Review: I think a great attempt at writing MLK's autobiography. Unfortunately, like King's life, there could have been so much more had he lived longer than he did...
Rating:
Summary: A Philosopher and a Poet
Review: King's autobiography was pieced together beautifully and fluidly, allowing readers to tangibly probe the brilliant, analytic, compassionate, and clever mind of a man whose valor on the battle field of non-violence forever altered the conciousness of America. King successfully placed the idealistic rhetoric and concepts that pride this nation up on trial that they might be implimented in the hearts and minds of all people. He is a great writer and a critical thinker whose descriptions and critiques of capitalism/communism, Ghandi and Satyagraha, Montgumery, Selma, "Bombingham", The Black Panthers, morality and violence, and more, have changed my perspective on history. This is a great book and a fascinating story about the most quintessential segment of American History.
Rating:
Summary: Required reading!
Review: Martin Luther King, Jr., is without a doubt one of the most influential and pivotal figures in twentieth-century history. In addition to his work as a Civil Rights leader, his role as a father and pastor, he also was an extensively published writer. However, he never had the chance to write an autobiography in the traditional sense. We as readers in the present day and the future have lost the private details that might have been fleshed out in a proper autobiography, but this skillfully crafted work by Clayborne Carson has given us a religious and political autobiography, revealed in King's almost countless papers (published and unpublished), interviews, letters, sermons and public statements.
Carson, author and editor of many books relating to the Civil Rights struggle, edited a collection of King's speeches entitled 'A Knock at Midnight', and was selected by the King estate to put together this in conjunction with (according to Carson) dozens of staff and student workers forming part of the King Papers Project. Carson used particular methodology consistently in his reconstruction - that of relying primarily on the words of King himself (utilising early drafts of later writings to discern the difference between authorial and editorial intentions) and developing them as if this overall narrative account was constructed near the end of King's life.
King's autobiography begins at the beginning, with is childhood as a preacher's kid (who was himself a preacher's kid, who was himself a preacher's kid, etc.). King said, 'of course I was religious.... I didn't have much choice.' King explains the different strands in his life, that of being both militant and moderate, idealistic and realistic, as beginning here. Here he developed questions ('how could I love a race of people who hated me?') and some answers (he learned that racial injustice was paralleled by economic injustice, and realised that poor white people were exploited also).
King's call to ministry and call to ethical and prophetic witness in the world developed through his schooling at Morehouse College, Crozer Seminary, and Boston University, where he developed interest in theology and social philosophy that would lead him to eventually to his ideas of civil rights activitsm. This would not take practical shape, however, until he was back in the South and working at churches and participating in actual events. He describes his involvement with Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Movement as a mountaintop experience, which also led to an awakening, both in King and in the community, of the power of nonviolent action a la Mahatma Gandhi.
It is almost incomprehensible to read this autobiography and realise that in a span of barely more than a dozen years (Rosa Parks was arrested for her action in December of 1955; King was assassinated in 1968) so much of what we consider to be the central history of the Civil Rights struggle occurred. Within the pages of text, King talks about the struggles of the common people and the dealings with the powerful, from the police in Alabama jurisdictions to dealing with federal government officials and organisations.
In the midst of all of this work, King managed to remain a family man, devoted to his wife and children, and a tireless worker in the church. Carson admits to not being able to develop too much of an interior autobiography in these kinds of sections (as even in King's private papers and writings, too much remains unrecorded), but his life in this regard still comes through many aspects of his writings, sermons and speeches.
This is an incredible book, and should be read as a required part of the education of an American, as it recounts a remarkable and astonishing part of history that continues to shape the direction of the nation to this day.
Rating:
Summary: A truly extraordinary man
Review: The autobiography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a triumph. Although not an "autobiography" in a strict sense, this book offers a unique glimpse into the life of one of history's most important activists. Clayborne Carson, through an exhaustive research of Dr. King's writings, speeches, and tapes, has put together a very seamless and elegant compilation that could very well have been an autobiography had Dr. King lived. The work begins with thoughts about Dr. King's childhood, his description of his family, his years at Boston University, and his first encounter with his wife. Many of his philosophical thoughts, that grew in his formative years and yet radically influenced his peace movement, are described with an eloquent speech and astounding detail. His love for his wife Coretta and the unconditional devotion to her (and vice versa) permeates throughout this book. Dr. King vividly describes his devotion to the principles of nonviolence, his thoughts on Thoreau and Gandhi, the tales of his travels to Africa and India, his views on Kennedy, LBJ, and Malcolm X. Nonviolent resistance, he insists, is not nonresistance to violence, but a much more active and intense undertaking. Many of his famous speeches are included, and yet there are scores of other lines and quotations throughout this work that I read several times over for their simple beauty and power. "Injustice anywhere, Dr. King writes, is a threat to justice everywhere." This work is a must-read. In a world that is currently so wrapped up in war and hostility, where violence seems to have gained the upper hand in so many areas of the world, Dr. King's love, wisdom, perserverance, and unshakable search for peace still stand out as lessons to us all.
Rating:
Summary: A truly extraordinary man
Review: The autobiography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a triumph. Although not an "autobiography" in a strict sense, this book offers a unique glimpse into the life of one of history's most important activists. Clayborne Carson, through an exhaustive research of Dr. King's writings, speeches, and tapes, has put together a very seamless and elegant compilation that could very well have been an autobiography had Dr. King lived. The work begins with thoughts about Dr. King's childhood, his description of his family, his years at Boston University, and his first encounter with his wife. Many of his philosophical thoughts, that grew in his formative years and yet radically influenced his peace movement, are described with an eloquent speech and astounding detail. His love for his wife Coretta and the unconditional devotion to her (and vice versa) permeates throughout this book. Dr. King vividly describes his devotion to the principles of nonviolence, his thoughts on Thoreau and Gandhi, the tales of his travels to Africa and India, his views on Kennedy, LBJ, and Malcolm X. Nonviolent resistance, he insists, is not nonresistance to violence, but a much more active and intense undertaking. Many of his famous speeches are included, and yet there are scores of other lines and quotations throughout this work that I read several times over for their simple beauty and power. "Injustice anywhere, Dr. King writes, is a threat to justice everywhere." This work is a must-read. In a world that is currently so wrapped up in war and hostility, where violence seems to have gained the upper hand in so many areas of the world, Dr. King's love, wisdom, perserverance, and unshakable search for peace still stand out as lessons to us all.
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