Bearing the Cross, David J. Garrow
Bearing the Cross, David J. Garrow
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Bearing the Cross
Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Author: David J. Garrow

Narrator: Jeff Riggenbach

Unabridged: 34 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/01/2006

Synopsis

Winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, this is the most comprehensive book ever written about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. David J. Garrow had unrestricted access to Martin Luther King's personal papers, to thousands of pages of newly released FBI documents, and to more than seven hundred interviews with King's closest friends and enemies.Garrow traces King's transformation from the young pastor of a modest church into the foremost spokesperson of the civil rights movement. The book's unifying theme is King's growing awareness of the symbolic meaning of the cross, as his sense of personal mission deepened into an acceptance of a life that would demand the ultimate sacrifice. This is a powerful portrait of a man at the epicenter of one of the most dramatic periods in our history—and of his metamorphosis into a legend.

About David J. Garrow

David J. Garrow is Senior Research Fellow at Homerton College, University of Cambridge. He served as a senior advisor for Eyes on the Prize. the award-winning PBS television history of the American Black freedom struggle, and as editorial advisor for the Library of America's two-volume Reporting Civil Rights (2003). He is a university level professor and regularly contributes to distinguished popular and academic periodicals on such issues as politics, civil rights and history.

About Jeff Riggenbach

Jeff Riggenbach (1947-2021) narrated numerous titles for Blackstone Audio and won an AudioFile Earphones Award. An author, contributing editor, and producer, he worked in radio in San Francisco for more than thirty years, earning a Golden Mike Award for journalistic excellence.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Tom LA on May 31, 2025

"Early morning, April 4th, Shot rings out in the Memphis sky, Free at last! They took your life, They could not take your pride" (Bono, U2). I learned so many things from this book. For example, that MLK was assassinated at 6 pm, so Bono got that wrong in his lyrics when he says "early morning". Then of......more

Goodreads review by Cliff on January 16, 2017

It's a bit difficult to know quite what to say about this book. It won the Pulitzer prize, undoubtedly because it was a very well chronicled and researched exploration of one of the most influential men of the 20th century in America, Martin Luther King, and probably the first real look at the man i......more

Goodreads review by Michael on November 02, 2020

Excellent. Influenced me greatly.......more

Goodreads review by Teijo on April 28, 2019

Very well researched and interesting as long as one is already invested in the civil rights struggle and the life of King - the writing is dry as desert sand. Glad the book focused heavily also on the overall civil rights struggle, especially as King's private life or philosophy are not described in......more

Goodreads review by Leslie on October 07, 2015

We went to the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis in June 2015. It is located at the site of the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968. When you approach the museum, it looks eerily familiar. There in front of you is the motel with its vintage sign and outdoor walkways and par......more

Quotes

“Likely to remain for a long time the most informative life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the most thorough study of the civil rights movement.” New York Times Review of Books

 “Provocative…A complex and convincing portrait.” Time

“Absorbing reading. Garrow aimed simply to write the definitive chronicle of King’s life during the period of his public eminence; and he has performed the task with skill and integrity.”  Times Literary Supplement

“Brilliant…one of the most valuable sources of contemporary history in print.” Sunday Boston Globe

“Reader Jeff Riggenbach successfully voices the words of King, his family, and his fellow civil rights activists with honest intelligence and authentic emotion. This is not only an excellent narrative but also a primer on the important events of the 1960s.”  Library Journal

Awards

  • Pulitzer Prize
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