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.