King reveals a minister wrestling with his own human frailties and dark moods, a citizen hunted by his own government, and a man determined to fight for justice even if it proved to be a fight to the death. He casts fresh light on the King family’s origins as well as MLK’s complex relationships with his wife, father, and fellow activists. In this revelatory new portrait of the preacher and activist who shook the world, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself. Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.-and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. The first full biography in decades, King mixes revelatory and exhaustive new research with brisk and accessible storytelling to forge the definitive life for our times. Named a most anticipated book of 2023 by The Washington Post, The Millions, and Literary Hub The most compelling account of King’s life in a generation.” -Mark Whitaker, The Washington Post ' infused with the narrative energy of a thriller.

Eig’s book is worthy of its subject.” -Dwight Garner, The New York Times “Supple, penetrating, heartstring-pulling and compulsively readable.

King a life jonathan eig