"King: A Life" by Jonathan Eig

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reading this book was a dream about a dream. What a masterpiece! Jonathan Eig has achieved the nearly impossible with King: A Life–a beautiful reconstruction of a very short yet outsized life. This biography is meticulously sourced history without feeling academic in any way.

I was amazed at how Eig brought together all of the threads to tell a complete and complex story. I especially appreciated how unflinching Eig was in presenting Dr. King’s glaring flaws (mostly hidden in his lifetime) in the context of his nearly immeasurable achievements. Eig also tells the complicated and often untold story of what Dr. King stood for beyond civil rights that wasn’t popular then and isn’t often emphasized now.

It’s not a dreamy easy read–pain on every page!–yet is worth any time invested. I understand MLK today in ways I never would have before reading King: A Life.

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