Synopses & Reviews
A vivid and fast-paced history, Gary May's
Bending toward Justice offers a dramatic account of the birth and precarious life of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It is an extraordinary story of the intimidation and murder of courageous activists who struggled to ensure that all Americans would be able to exercise their right to vote. May outlines the divisions within the Civil Rights Movement, describes the relationship between President Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr., and captures the congressional politics of the 1960s.
Bending toward Justice is especially timely, given that the Supreme Court's decision in
Shelby County v. Holder in 2013 invalidated a key section of the Voting Rights Act. As May shows, the fight for voting rights is by no means over.
Review
"An illuminating history of a law that remains all too relevant." Booklist
Review
"Bending Toward Justice is a book of the classical phase [of the Civil Rights Movement], a lively and unabashedly partisan account of Selma and the Voting Rights Act....May tells the story in his own way, and he is able to add many details." Louis Menand "The New Yorker
Review
"May's book is a great introduction to voting rights at a moment when the subject is drawing more attention than any time since 1965." Ari Berman, The Nation
About the Author
Gary May is Professor of History at the University of Delaware. He is the author of
The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo.