This accessible, up-to-date, and timely biography of Martin Luther King Jr. offers readers a fresh approach to King's life, achievements,and lasting contributions to civil rights, social justice, and American history. Jamie J. Wilson's richly informed narrative follows King's early life as the son of a noted Baptist preacher in Atlanta, to his adulthood as the most visible, influential, and controversial leader of the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1960s.

Going beyond the typical cradle-to-the-grave biography, Wilson situates King within and alongside the major events that King helped define, including the push for desegregation, equal rights for Black Americans, and the antiwar movement. Chapters are organized chronologically, and a supplementary chapter, "Why Martin Luther King Jr. Matters," takes up King's ongoing cultural and historical significance. Additionally, carefully chosen "Cultural Connections" are placed throughout the text to help students draw lines between King's life and the social, political, and intellectual currents with which King was and remains synonymous.