At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68

by Taylor Branch

Book Overview

'At Canaan's Edge' chronicles dramatic campaigns in Mississippi and Alabama, King's tormented alliance with Lyndon Johnson, his painful break with Stokey Carmichael over black power, and persecution by Hoover's FBI. This book brings the decades of the Civil Rights struggle alive and preserves the integrity of those who marched and died.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068485712X
• ISBN13: 9780684857121
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 1039 Pages
• Weight: 3.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

History as it should be written

I was lucky enough to discover this trilogy just when the third book (At Canaan's Edge) was released. Much has been written in other reviews that I will not repeat, except to say that this is an incredibly gripping tale, told by a master historian and story teller, that provides unique insight into the people and dynamics of the Civil Rights movement in America in the 60's. This book is especially worth reading if you think this is a story you already know well; because Branch manages to surprise you and extend your understanding without ever losing sight of the landmarks of well established facts. This truly is history as it should be written, and while the second book is admittedly a bit weaker than the first and third, they are all excellent and Branch more than deserves a second Pulitzer for the final book.

Skillful Rendering of Turbulent Times

America, created as an experiment in individual freedom, embedded the legal right to own slaves in its founding charter. The working out of these contradictory impulses has been the central American story. This is the story that Taylor Branch tells in engrossing detail through his three volume history of "America in the King Years." The Civil Rights Movement brought out the best and the worst in the American character; over almost 3,000 pages, Branch assembles the facts, interviews the survivors, and bears witness. The first volume, Parting the Waters, traces Martin Luther King's rise from obscure Baptist preacher to a civil rights leader forged in the crucible of the Montgomery bus boycott. Pillar of Fire goes from JFK's assassination to an abrupt, somewhat unsatisfactory ending at the beginning of the 1965 Selma campaign. At Canaan's Edge starts with the triumph of the Montgomery march and ends with King's assassination in 1968. The author describes his approach as a "narrative biographical history," that uses King's life to illuminate broad American themes. There's more narrative than history in these volumes. Very seldom does Branch take the long view, or give us contextual exegeses. What he does give us is compelling, often brilliant reporting that features participant interviews, a deep dive into formerly classified documents, and a you-are-there look at the conversations, strategy sessions and public theater of the friends and foes of civil rights. These books aren't exactly a King biography, a history of the Civil Rights Movement or a history of America during a time of wrenching change, and yet they're all these things, the whole becoming greater than the sum of the parts. One of the many rewards of reading this trilogy is the skill with which Branch has resurrected the living, breathing King. We learn about an intellectual more at home parsing Reinhold Neibuhr's philosophy than facing down rabid mobs of diehard segregationists. A holy man beset by common human lusts. An executive who dealt with PR, fundraising and staff squabbles. A preacher buffeted by the sectarian struggles in the Black Baptist Church. A politician weaving, often groping, through racial and cultural thickets toward goals that seemed impossibly distant. One comes away awed by the immensity of the burdens King assumed, and humbled by the grace with which he bore them. The books also chronicle the history of the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968. The relationships among the various civil rights groups were often tempestuous. The NAACP under Roy Wilkins thought King's nonviolent demonstrations too radical. The young activists of SNCC (the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) eventually dismissed King's approach as too temperate. The leaders of his own Southern Christian Leadership Conference, James Bevel, Hosea Williams, Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, were often at odds with King and each other over movement strategy and tactics.

Stunning conclusion

This final installment in the triptych of Dr. Martin Luther King's life reads almost like a stream of consiousness piece. Engrossing in scope, yet intimate and fastidious in detail, it is gripping, compelling reading. I own "Parting the Waters", and after having put it aside for awhile, I am reminded of the great service Taylor Branch has done with his nearly quarter-century of research; which bears fruit so powerfully in this concluding work.

A Grand Finale

As usual I am finding myself engrossed by Taylor Branch's scholarship and prose. I have not quite completed this epic book about MLK, but I soon will. I can't put it down. MLK was one of the greatest human spirits to grace us with his presence. If you want a stunning, modern take on the power of MLK's eternal power, watch and listen to the DVD "USA The Movie" which is infused with his prophetic voice in a unique, unforgettable way. Branch has done us a wonderful service by devoting the last 25 years of his life to chronicling MLK's life and the life of America during the struggle for civil rights. As usual, Branch is detailed, infinitely knowledgeable and obviously deeply devoted to his work and his subject. I recommend this book --all of his trilogy actually -- with great admiration and gratitude. Branch pieces together the inward and outward life of MLK in such a wonderful, well-researched project that is as impressive as it is eye-opening.