Martin Luther King Jr.

Combining the latest insights from King biographies and movement histories, this book provides an up-to-date analysis of the relationship between the `man and the movement.’

Looks at the sources of Martin Luther King's power in the black community and its relationship to wider American society, focusing on the role of the black church, the philosophy of nonviolence and issues of leadership, whilst paying attention to the voices of King's critics and detractors and to the limitations of his power.

Combining the latest insights from KIng biographies and movement histories, this book provides an up-to-date critical analysis of the relationship between King and the wider civil rights movement. Delivering a fresh perspective on the relationship between 'the man and the movement', Kirk argues that it is the interactionbetween national and local movement concerns that is essential to understanding King's leadership and black activism in the 1950s and 1960s. Kirk examines King's strengths and his limitations, and weighs the role that king played in then movement alongside the contributions of other civil rights organizations and leaders, and local civil rights activists.

Suitable for undergraduate courses in 20th century US history.