by Jon Meacham
First published 2020
Jon Meacham presents the life of John Lewis, the civil rights leader who transformed from a sharecropper's son into one of America's most influential congressmen. At four years old, Lewis preached to his family's chickens, dreaming of becoming a minister. When his mother cooked one of those chickens, the boy refused to eat it in what he later called his first act of nonviolent protest. Meacham traces Lewis's journey from those early days in Alabama through his mentorship under Martin Luther King Jr. and Reverend James Lawson, who taught him that nonviolence was both strategy and sacred principle. The book follows Lewis to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where at twenty-five he faced brutal beatings while marching for voting rights. Through extensive interviews with Lewis and deep research into the civil rights movement, Meacham shows how biblical faith and unwavering hope drove Lewis to risk everything for justice. The author argues that Lewis ranks alongside the founding fathers in shaping America, creating a blueprint for modern social change rooted in moral courage.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, african-american, non-fiction, 21st-century, activism, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: biography, historical-fiction, inspirational
Setting: Alabama, Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma
Period: 1960s, Civil Rights Movement
354 pages · Hardcover · Random House