Martin Luther King Day: Best Books About MLK And His Legacy (PHOTOS)

Since 1986, Americans have officially celebrated the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., one of the country's greatest Civil and Human Rights activists and leaders, on the third Monday of January. To honor King this year, we take a look at the most important books by, and about, him.

Here are a selection of great King books. Which is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.

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'The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.', edited by Clayborne Carson

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This MLK Book

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Top 5 MLK Books

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Comments

[Martin Eldred]

03:25 PM on 01/19/2011

For insight on the far too often overlooked theological background of The Rev. Dr. King, I would recommend two books:
Martin Luther King Jr.: The Making of a Mind, by John J. Ansbro (Orbis Books, 1982) and;
King Among the Theologians, by Noel Leo Erskine (Pilgrim Press, 1994).

[Denni]

02:35 PM on 01/18/2011

"Where do we go from here:Chaos or Community?" is never on anyone's list, and that's a shame. It's a wonderful read and calls us to question what we really mean when we say that we're for integration and rights for all.

[longtimegone]

02:55 AM on 01/18/2011

The two books by William Pepper, a friend of Dr.King's in the last year of his life, are absolutely essential reading for all Americans.

[1776 or 1984]

10:15 PM on 01/17/2011

Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

I read this Pulitzer-Prize winning biography. One of the best books I've ever read.

I love him.

[luvU2]

09:25 PM on 01/17/2011

Why are MLK stories at the bottom of the page? Today is MLK day.

[Weirdwriter]

01:45 AM on 01/18/2011

The stories are also at the top of the Religion Section.

[uncleentropy]

09:09 PM on 01/17/2011

Taylor Branch's "Parting the Waters" is the best book ever written on MLK and on the larger civil rights struggle. The others from the trilogy are extremely important, but PTW towers about all of the others.

Part of the confusion with this list is that it includes MLK primary source material along with bios.

[Denni]

02:35 PM on 01/18/2011

Thank you for the reference! I'll look for it.

[SoutheastBeast]

08:38 PM on 01/17/2011

I've been devouring books about MLK and the civil rights movement for years. None of the books mentioned comes close to making my list. Here are the four books you need to read to learn about him and his movement, and to get in some damn good reading:

1. Taylor Branch's amazing trilogy: Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire and At Canaan's Edge;
2. Bearing the Cross (I can't remember the author).

[starwheel]

07:12 PM on 01/17/2011

What? Not one of Taylor Branch's trilogy made the cut?

[SoutheastBeast]

08:38 PM on 01/17/2011

It was a bizarre list of books. Taylor Branch's trilogy is far away the best written history of the civil rights movement.