John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg

In this sweeping and deeply researched biography, historian David Greenberg chronicles the life and legacy of John Lewis, one of the most courageous and influential leaders of the American civil rights movement.

Born to sharecroppers in Alabama, Lewis rose from humble beginnings to become a central figure in some of the most pivotal events in American history. He was a Freedom Rider, the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington, and chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He is perhaps best known for leading the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on “Bloody Sunday” in 1965, where he was brutally beaten by state troopers in Selma.

Greenberg traces Lewis’s journey beyond the civil rights era—through his efforts with the Voter Education Project, his leadership in Atlanta politics, and his long tenure as a respected and principled member of the U.S. House of Representatives, often called “the conscience of Congress.”

Drawing on extensive interviews (including with Lewis himself), archival materials, and newly uncovered FBI documents, John Lewis: A Life offers an intimate and comprehensive portrait of a man whose commitment to justice, nonviolence, and democracy shaped a nation.