The King Years Audiobook By Taylor Branch cover art

The King Years

Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement

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The King Years

By: Taylor Branch
Narrated by: Leslie Odom Jr.
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The essential moments of the civil rights movement are introduced and set in historical context by the author of the magisterial America in the King Years trilogy: Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire, and At Canaan's Edge.

Taylor Branch's three-volume history endures as a masterpiece of storytelling on American race, violence, and democracy. With this brief volume, which brings to life the pivotal scenes, he relates the dramatic story of how the movement evolved from a bus strike to a political revolution, and brings this historic achievement to a wider audience.

©2013 Taylor Branch (P)2013 Simon & Schuster African American Studies Americas Black & African American Civil Rights & Liberties Freedom & Security Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government Social Sciences Specific Demographics United States Social justice Martin Luther King

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What other book might you compare The King Years to and why?

This is the author's best hits from his trilogy.

What does Leslie Odom, Jr. bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He did a perfect job.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Too many to mention.

Excellent

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I learned so much of what I realized my education of this time lacked and it inspired me to further pursue more information.

beautiful and very informative

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Like many other reviewers, I had hoped to skip the hard slog through the highly acclaimed, three-volume original books by this author on the civil rights movement in America by getting this abridged version. And like many others, I came away underwhelmed. Some of the moments and people the author chose to include here seemed odd choices to me. I am by no means an expert on the civil rights movement, but I really didn't learn anything new, so I would definitely not recommend it for anyone with more than a passing knowledge of the events of the 1960s. Neither can I recommend it for someone just beginning to research this era; the narrative is too disjointed and there is not enough context to understand the implications of the events described here unless you already have some background. Ultimately, the only thing this book inspired in me was a strong desire to re-watch all of "Eyes on the Prize."

[I listened to this as an audiobook read by Leslie Odom, Jr. who did the best he could with the unenviable task of performing some of the most well-known speeches in American history by some of our most famous orators. Wisely realizing King and Kennedy are inimitable, Odom reads their famous lines in more or less his own voice, but this just made it all the more obvious that this content is better consumed either in written form, or by listening to the original speakers. As an audio book, I would not recommend this.]

Just made me want to watch Eyes on the Prize

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