To Redeem the Soul of America: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King, Jr.

To Redeem the Soul of America looks beyond the towering figure of Martin Luther King, Jr., to disclose the full workings of the organization that supported him. As Adam Fairclough reveals the dynamics within the Southern Christian Leadership Conference he shows how Julian Bond, Jesse Jackson, Wyatt Walker, Andrew Young, and others also played a hand in the triumphs of Selma and Birmingham and the frustrations of Albany and Chicago. Joining a charismatic leader with an inspired group of activists, the SCLC built a bridge from the black proletariat to the white liberal elite and then, finally, to the halls of Congress and the White House.

Fairclough (American history, U. of East Anglia) examines the civil rights organization, which he thinks has been neglected by historians in the rush to focus on King himself. He adds a 15-page afterword to review the history of the Conference over the past decade and a half. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

Of three major recent studies of King this one most fully examines the organization that grew up around the civil rights leader. Thus, it complements Stephen Oates's Let the Trumpet Sound (LJ 7/82) and David Garrow's Bearing the Cross (LJ 12/86), both of which depict the SCLC primarily as a function of King's personality and leadership. Fairclough gives both secondary figures and local leaders fair treatment. At times, he even seems to bend over backwards to make his point that King was not the entire movement. Nonetheless, King's name is found on virtually every page. Appearing in the shadow of Garrow's massive work, Fairclough's may be overlooked. It should not be, for it also is a well-written narrative based on extensive research. Charles K. Piehl, Dir. of Grants and Sponsored Progs., Mankato State Univ., Minn.

Adam Fairclough is the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Chair of History and Culture of the United States at Leiden University. His books include Martin Luther King, Jr., To Redeem the Soul of America, Teaching Equality, Race and Democracy, and The Star Creek Papers (all available from Georgia).