King’s Dream
Eric J. Sundquist, . . Yale Univ., $26 (295pp) ISBN 978-0-300-11807-0
To this day, nobody knows what prompted Martin Luther King Jr. to depart from his prepared remarks during the August 28, 1963, March on Washington and deliver what is probably the most famous impromptu speech in American history. Was it the realization that the 40-year-old preacher from Atlanta hadn’t yet connected with his audience? Was it the manifest destiny he felt as a child, that one day he would “have me some big words” like the preacher of his own church? Or was it the provocation of gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who called to King to “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin!” According to Sundquist (
Reviewed on: 11/10/2008
Genre: Nonfiction
Paperback - 456 pages - 978-0-300-15090-2
Paperback - 320 pages - 978-0-300-15859-5