King: Pilgrimage to the Mountaintop (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Historian Sitkoff covers the major points in the time line of King's life and the Civil Rights movement—from the Montgomery bus boycott to the March on Washington, his anti–Vietnam War activism and assassination in 1968—but this brief, rudimentary volume will enlighten only the most novice student of Civil Rights history. The author passes through major moments in an informal tone that borders on the flippant (King the gentle Jesus had bested [Birmingham police commissioner Eugene Bull] Connor the sadistic Satan). Sitkoff (The Enduring Vision, co-editor) attends to the civil rights leader's flaws as well as his accomplishments, noting King's early plagiarism and making frequent reference to his sexual dalliances (King flitted from one thinker to another at almost the same rate as he wrecked young women). Though Sitkoff includes excerpts from King's books and speeches (jazzed up with audience responses, e.g., All right, yessir!), neophytes are better served by David J. Garrow's Pulitzer Prize–winning Bearing the Cross, which Sitkoff acknowledges in his ample and gracious Bibliographic Essay.
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Review

“Sitkoff provides a vivid portrait that deserves to be widely read, not only as the standard short King biography but also as an incisive essay on his significance today.” —San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

 

“Written with skill and imagination . . . King: Pilgrimage to the Mountaintop is clearly the best short biography we have of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

“Harvard Sitkoff wants to remind us of his subject’s subversive agenda, and to banish the ‘airbrushed’ portrait of a ‘moderate, respectable ally of presidents’ . . . Sitkoff argues that the more militant King is the more relevant King. And he’s right.” —The New York Observer

 

“Persuasive . . . Sitkoff’s skillful choice of material, his organization of the text and his fine writing style (especially compared with most academic historians) raise the biography to the top rank of books about King.” —The News and Observer (Raleigh)

 

“King is a perfect combination of author and subject: one of the deans of civil rights history tracing the life of the movement’s towering figure. Harvard Sitkoff has performed a remarkable feat, giving us a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., that is simultaneously concise and complex, judicious and deeply moving.” —Kevin Boyle, author of the National Book Award–winning Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hill and Wang; 1 Reprint edition (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809063492
• ISBN-13: 978-0809063499
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #459,899 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving, May 17, 2009

By	William G. Adams - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The story of Martin Luther King's life in and of itself is moving. Sitkoff interprets King's endeavors, trials and successes, wonderfully in the book King: Pilgrimage to the Mountaintop.

Sitkoff does an excellent job mapping out King's life, exposing King as a radical Liberal, opponent to presidents, peace advocate, and strong opponent of the Vietnam War.

The autobiography also exposes America's flawed society which rejects change and "radicalism." In particular, America rejecting King's opposition to the War in Vietnam. King opposed Vietnam, and the consensus of historians in 2009 view the war as a major mistake and a foreign policy failure. Sitkoff points out King saw this in the 1960s, and everyone rejected his ideas and wrote him off as a lunatic. King's story has stood the test of time, and he has gone down in history as one of the greatest peace and equal rights advocates in America's history.

Sitkoff created a masterpiece, exposing King's flaws and his strengths, making the average American able to relate to such an important historical figure. Sitkoff doesn't white wash King as a moral leader, nor a religious figure whatsoever. Sitkoff points out the flaws that King possessed, but also King's successes and strengths leaving you to be the judge how important King was to America.

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful biography, November 16, 2009

By	David Lisbona (Haifa, Israel) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A powerful, very readable, biography of a great man who, in spite of his personal failings, should be a great example to us all. Sitkoff's story takes us from MLK's studies to his (and the black peoples of Montgomery, Alabama) phenomenal but arduous success in changing bus segregation to the less visible achievements of later years.

Not only did King have to struggle for black peoples' rights, he had to struggle to keep the fight non-violent. It was very tough, he didn't always succeed and even he realized that militancy sometimes was more effective than non-violent protest.

It is incredible for us in the the 21st century to imagine the depths of racism, discrimination and segregation that existed in the world's most famous democracy only 50 years ago. This year , on Martin Luther King Day, a black president was inaugurated in the USA. Even though much implicit racism still exists , the advances have been stupendous. MLK would feel that his dream had largely been fulfilled.