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I've read several biographies on King, but I think this one is my favorite.

I say that in part because I come from a school of thought wherein any history that is less than 50 years after the event cannot be accurately told. Those who write the history of modern events were either old enough to affected directly or know people who were affected directly by the events.

It takes 50 years or so for the emotions and biases surrounding an event to melt away to obtain an accurate presentation of the event. MLK's story is further complicated by the involvement of the US Government which buried key evidence for 50+ years. MLK Scholars are still waiting for key documents to be released in 2027.

This means that modern scholars have a treasure trove of documents unavailable to previous scholars when researching King. Eig also benefited from the fact that he had the ability to interview many of Kings family members or associates who were still alive.

So what in particular about this book did I enjoy?

Eig had access to journals and documents of Kings childhood and youth that included details that I was not familiar with. This continued into his academic career wherein Eig went into more details about how various theologians or ideas influenced his life. King embraced one of his professors mantras for sermonizing "Prove, paint, and pursuade." During a speach, King sought to prove his point. To paint an image as to what that meant or what it could be. Then to pursuade the audience to act upon his message.

He also talked about how different people influenced his theology and philosophy. For example, how Nietsche almost convinced him that a Christian God of Love could not exist, but that Ghandi showed him that it could. About how King took Ghandi's non-violence ideology and merged it with Niebuhr's Christian realism to create “a Niebuhrian stratagem of power�. How he was a major critic of Paul Tillich, but that in critiquing Tillich, his theology ended up being an adaptation of Tillich rather than a repudiation of him.

I personally enjoyed the last section of the book when he talked about his relationship with LBJ and his growing criticism of the Vietnam War. Eig chronicles how King lost influence after his speech in Chicago condemning the war. A speech written largely by Vincent Harding.

(On an aside, I knew Dr Harding for several years as I attended a school where he taught.)