As editor of The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Clayborne Carson, with the assistance of his staff at Stanford's Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, had complete access to the papers of Dr. King. From their unique familiarity with these invaluable materials they have compiled an encyclopedia offering a fresh and exciting look at all aspects of Dr. King's life and career. Carefully selected excerpts from letters, sermons, speeches, and other writings give readers insights into Dr. King and the civil rights movement that are unavailable in other reference works on the subject. Scholars, students, and interested nonspecialists will all find the encyclopedia's 280 entries both informative and engaging. Alphabetically arranged, each entry concludes with a list of sources, both primary and secondary, upon which it is based. The entries cover all facets of Dr. King's life and career, including the following members of his family: BLhis wife, Coretta Scott King BLhis father, Martin Luther King, Sr. BLhis mother, Alberta Williams King BLhis brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King

and all four of his children His many friends and associates in the movement: BLRalph David Abernathy BLMaya Angelou BLSammy Davis Jr. BLMedgar Evers BLDick Gregory BLBenjamin Hooks BLJames Meredith BLAndrew Young His campaigns and marches: BLBirmingham Campaign BLChicago Campaign BLMarch on Washington for Jobs and Freedom BLMemphis Sanitation Workers Strike BLMongomery Bus Boycott BLOperation Breadbasket And the many organizations he led or interacted with: BLCongress of Racial Equality BLMontgomery Improvement Association BLNational Conference on Religion and Race BLSouthern Christian Leadership Conference BLStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Other entries discuss the churches he pastored, the dissertation he wrote, the trips he took to India and Ghana, the books he published, the speeches he delivered, the Nobel Prize he won, the presidents and other national figures he knew, and his chief opponents and critics. The encyclopedia also offers a detailed chronology of Dr. King's life, a selected bibliography of important seconday sources, and a detailed Introduction putting Dr. King's career in context with its times, a Guide to Related Topics, and a detailed subject index.

Carson, founding director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, provides a reference for students, teachers, researchers, and general readers in high school and up. Based on the extensive historical research originally conducted by the staff of the Institute's Papers Project to produce annotations for the published volumes of King's papers, the encyclopedia draws heavily on the Papers Project's vast collection of primary source documents related to King and the movement he inspired. Quotations from these documents are included in many entries. The encyclopedia begins with a chronology, followed by a short narrative introduction. The entries give information on African American leaders, members of King's family and his personal and professional associates, theological and political sources of influence, celebrities who supported his protest campaigns, and political allies and opponents. Major events in King's life also have their own entries. The 285 entries are arranged alphabetically. Each entry is followed by a list of sources, which contains secondary literature and primary documents. B&w historical photos are included. Carson teaches history at Stanford University. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

CLAYBORNE CARSON is professor of history at Stanford University, where he is also founding director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. His publications include In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s (1981), which won the OAH's Frederick Jackson Terner Award, and Malcolm X: The FBI File (1991). He also served as senior advisor for the award-winning PBS series on the civil rights movement, "Eyes on the Prize," and co-edited the Eyes on the Prize Reader (1991). In 1985, Coretta Scott King invited him to direct a long-term project to edit and publish The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition to these volumes, Dr. Carson has written or co-edited numerous other works based on the papers, including A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. (1998) and The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1998), compiled from King's autobiographical writings.