The theme of power informs the central questions that this book addresses. To what extent was King able to 'bring about' social, political and economic changes? How and why did King seek to bring about those changes? What strengths and abilities did King contribute in the context of the wider civil rights movement?

One of the most significant events in the struggle for black civil rights in America was the integration in 1957 of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation was unconstitutional. The South's campaign of massive resistance against this ruling culminated in a showdown at Little Rock's Central High School, where President Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops to protect nine black students as they entered the school. Although numerous studies have analyzed the Little Rock school crisis from a variety of...

Combining the latest scholarship with John Kirk's informed commentary, this sourcebook throws a powerful light on the civil rights movement and its most influential leader. Debates that until now have been carried out across a range of books and journals are here brought together for the first time in a clear, helpful volume which introduces readers to key topics, debates and scholars in the field. Essential reading for all those with an interest in the man and the movement.