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David J. Garrow

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The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.: From "Solo" to Memphis Kindle Edition

by David J. Garrow (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 23 ratings

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The author of Bearing the Cross, the Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Martin Luther King Jr., exposes the government’s massive surveillance campaign against the civil rights leader

When US attorney general Robert F. Kennedy authorized a wiretap of Martin Luther King Jr.’s phones by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he set in motion one of the most invasive surveillance operations in American history. Sparked by informant reports of King’s alleged involvement with communists, the FBI amassed a trove of information on the civil rights leader. Their findings failed to turn up any evidence of communist influence, but they did expose sensitive aspects of King’s personal life that the FBI went on to use in its attempts to mar his public image.

Based on meticulous research into the agency’s surveillance records, historian David Garrow illustrates how the FBI followed King’s movements throughout the country, bugging his hotel rooms and tapping his phones wherever he went, in an obsessive quest to destroy his growing influence. Garrow uncovers the voyeurism and racism within J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI while unmasking Hoover’s personal desire to destroy King. The spying only intensified once King publicly denounced the Vietnam War, and the FBI continued to surveil him until his death.

The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. clearly demonstrates an unprecedented abuse of power by the FBI and the government as a whole.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00TL64GOK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media; 1st edition (February 17, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 17, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2324 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 425 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #688,061 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #351 in Civil Rights & Liberties (Kindle Store)
- #399 in Black & African American History (Kindle Store)
- #1,078 in United States Executive Government

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4.5 23 ratings

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David J. Garrow

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David J. Garrow is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who is presently professor of law and history and Distinguished Faculty Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Garrow, who earned his PhD from Duke University, is an acclaimed scholar of the United States' black freedom struggle and reproductive rights movement, as well as of the US Supreme Court. His definitive biography of Martin Luther King Jr., Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was honored with the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for biography and the seventh-annual Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.

Garrow's other books are Protest at Selma: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.: From ""Solo"" to Memphis, and Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade. He also served as a senior adviser to Eyes on the Prize, the award-winning PBS documentary series on the civil rights movement.

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Rogers Pittman

Hoover was wild

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2020

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Shows how ridiculous and paranoid the FBI was. Much of this I was unaware of. Thanks to the writer for this.

2 people found this helpful

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Ronald L. Cauthon

It is amazing that the FBI operated in such covert manner

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2015

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I have not finished reading this book,but have found it very informative. It is amazing that the FBI operated in such covert manner. I have heard many stories about Hoover and his temper and hatred for anyone who was critical of his methods. Later heads of the FBI have, also, performed wrong acts supposedly in compliance with laws. A friend who had this book as required reading in college recommended the book and I am grateful to him for his suggestion. The citizens should be reminded often of Hoover's hateful performance as head of FBI.

20 people found this helpful

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BARK TWAIN

FBI and King

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2017

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This explains a lot. J. Edgar Hoover was a very feared man, with good reason. What a fascist hater!

3 people found this helpful

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kevin holston

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2018

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The condition of the book is great...
Love the the book.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2016

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loved it

4 people found this helpful

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Cris Gill

Interesting read of an interesting time

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2019

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To.me this fleshed out a lot of things I had heard and read of MLK, the FBI, JFK and LBJ. No one was pure, all are very human and the context was well described.

6 people found this helpful

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BookLover

Uneventful

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

I was bored by this overly-factual presentation. I love MLK and despise Hoover. Nothing new in this book, but it was matter-of-factly told.