Taylor Branch is an author and historian perhaps best known for his acclaimed trilogy of books chronicling the life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the arc of the American civil rights movement. "I would like my readers to entertain the core notion that civil rights history is not a quaint tale of yesteryear, but rather our best model for the urgent task of understanding and refining democracy," he reflects in our interview.
Biography
Taylor Branch is the bestselling author of Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63 (which won the Pulitzer Prize), Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65, and At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968.
The author of two other nonfiction books and a novel, Branch is a former staff member of The Washington Monthly, Harper's, and Esquire. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Author biography courtesy of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Good To Know
Some interesting and inspiring outtakes from our interview with Branch:
"The civil rights movement was my formative inspiration for writing, because I was both stunned and mystified by the courage of black people across town much younger than my non-political self."
"I would like my readers to entertain the core notion that civil rights history is not a quaint tale of yesteryear, but rather our best model for the urgent task of understanding and refining democracy."
