King

‘Supple, penetrating, heartstring-pulling and compulsively readable … The first comprehensive biography of King in three decades… and it supplants David J. Garrow’s 1986 biography Bearing the Cross as the definitive life of King … [Eig’s is] a clean, clear, journalistic voice, one that employs facts the way Saul Bellow said they should be employed, each a wire that sends a current … Eig’s book is worthy of its subject’ * New York Times *‘A sober and intimate portrait of King’s short life, and one that can’t help but be admiring, given how much King accomplished, and how quickly he did so … Eig captures the ferocity of the forces that opposed King’ * New Yorker *‘Jonathan Eig’s magnificent new biography is an overdue attempt to grapple with King in all his complexity … Eig makes [King’s] courage and moral vision seem all the more exceptional for having come from a man with ordinary flaws’ * Economist *‘[A] landmark work of scholarship … It’s the fullness of this portrait, rich in contradictions, that makes King: A Life the definitive biography of a legendary leader’ * Esquire *‘King: A Life might be described as a deeply reported psychobiography… infused with the narrative energy of a thriller … Eig does a particularly nuanced job of conjuring up the mind-set of Coretta Scott King in the years before she emerged as a forceful activist in her own right … The most compelling account of King’s life in a generation’ * Washington Post *‘A fine biography, diligently researched, the analytical passages invariably intelligent and never allowed to impeded the pacy telling of the story’ * Daily Telegraph *‘Eig does an excellent job of tracing King’s struggles and self-doubts amid the sudden onslaught of media attention… Each generation ought to grapple with his life and legacy. For those seeking a readable and comprehensive account of King’s life, buttressed by extensive and up-to-date archival and oral history research, Eig’s book will remain essential reading – but certainly not the last word on its subject’ * Guardian *‘Definitive … Monumental … An extraordinary achievement and an essential life of the iconic warrior for social justice’ * Kirkus Reviews *’[A] sweeping biography. Eig gives a rousing recap of King’s triumphs as a civil rights leader … [A] complex, nuanced portrait … Eig’s evocative prose ably conveys his bravery, charisma, and spell-binding oratory … An enthralling reappraisal that confirms King’s relevance to today’s debates over racial justice’ * Publishers Weekly *‘Eig’s most original contribution lies in his portrayal of Coretta Scott King, whom he incorporates to a degree unmatched by previous biographers’ * Times Literary Supplement *‘The most comprehensive MLK biography to date … Eig refuses to ‘defang’ King, instead pushing Americans to recognize the radical nature of his demands for justice and his resistance to not only racism but militarism and capitalism’ * Booklist *‘This book is not a demolition job; Eig retains enormous respect for King. Nevertheless, he diligently exposes his manifold flaws, not to mention his persistent dishonesty. [It] serves a useful purpose in bringing a painfully accurate portrayal of King to those who might have swallowed too much hype’ * The Times *‘It is the perfect introduction to a titan of 20th-century history: Eig shows us King the legend, but also King the complex and imperfect man’ – Tomiwa Owolade * New Statesman, Books of the Year *‘a fascinating depiction of Martin Luther King Jr – his brilliance, his flaws and his many shameless opponents’ – Henry Mance * Financial Times, Books of the Year *

Jonathan Eig is a former senior special writer for The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of several books, including two highly acclaimed bestsellers, Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season.