King: A Life

King: A Life is a 2023 biography of Martin Luther King Jr. by Jonathan Eig. It is the first comprehensive biography of Martin Luther King in several decades. It draws on a host of newly available sources, including recently declassified transcripts and reports from the FBI’s Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO), which illegally recorded King for many years. Eig also draws on previously unavailable recordings by King’s close friends and family members, including his wife, Coretta, as well as a large cache of documents that belonged to the official historian of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The book has been the subject of widespread praise from journalists, scholars, and public figures, and is likely to stand as the definitive biography of King for years to come.

This summary is based on the first hardcover edition published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (New York: 2023).

Content Warning: The source material and this guide cite accounts of racism and racial violence, along with a brief mention of suicide.

Summary

The book begins with young Michael King, Martin’s father, climbing his way out of the desperate poverty of Stockbridge, Georgia, to become the associate pastor of a respected Baptist congregation in Atlanta.