Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963 - 65
Author: Taylor Branch
“The second volume of his America in the King Years trilogy, Taylor Branch portrays the civil rights era at its zenith. . . .covers the far-flung upheavals of the years 1963 to 1965 -- Dallas, St. Augustine, Mississippi Freedom Summer, LBJ’s Great Society and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Vietnam, Selma. And it provides a frank, revealing portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. -- haunted by blackmail, factionalism and hatred while he tried to hold the nonviolent movement together as a dramatic force in history. Allies, rivals and opponents addressed racial issues that went deeper than fair treatment at bus stops or lunch counters. Participants on all sides stretched themselves and their country to the breaking point over the meaning of simple words: dignity, equal votes, equal souls.” © 1998 Hard cover 716 pages
