Product Description
Quoting extensively from Dr. Martin Luther King's sermons and speeches, the author chronicles King's rise from a young minister in Montgomery, Alabama to the world's greatest spokesperson for civil rights. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great info on Martin Luther King Jr.
This biography on a very influential man , Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, has a lot of detail in different subjects about his life. The pictures are great and help explain the situations in his time period. Some of the things that happened in the book I had never even heard before like when a woman stabbed him and he almost died. I also like how they show the book mostly from his own perspective. The book ask questions that he probably asked himself. The book was not too long and not to short, it had the right amount of pages to tell the stroy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this to anybody who likes history. ... Read more

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An original translation of the Table Talks from the Weimar Edition with commentary by Charles J. Daudert and Foreword by Dr. Paul L. Maier.This is the first and only authentic popular translation of the conversations around the Luther dinner table from original Medieval German and Latin sources.Although a limited number of the Weimar Edition Table Talks have been previously translated by Fortress Press/Concordia Publishing House, this edition of OFF THE RECORD WITH MARTIN LUTHER presents a complete picture of the Reformation and Luther family life.Other works currently in print are reprints of a discredited collection translated into English in the 17th Century which contain very few of the authentic Table Talks in this edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A mixed blessing
I haven't read other Table Talk editions, so I'm unable to make comparisons.This was a book I'd been wanting to read for some time.I found this new edition non-linear, repetitive, and on occasion, unclear.It isn't always clear in the text what was commentary (historical or modern) and what was Luther's own reflections.I didn't get the book I was hoping for, namely an intimate look at the thoughts of the great Reformer.There are some gems here, but too few amid material that was not especially helpful.I plowed on through to the end, and while it was worth reading, I was a bit disappointed.I was expecting more.

A good book
I am a life-long Lutheran and thought I knew Martin Luther fairly well.This book, however, has presented him to me in a different light and has helped me understand him more fully as a human being. The way it is organized makes it an easy book to pick up and read as much or as little as one wants at a time.I really enjoyed reading it.

A great way to get to know Luther!
I had no idea Martin Luther was such an entertaining man.And it appears that he was an all around person, not at all the pious monk depicted in the movie.He was the head of the Theology Department at Wittenberg University.He was witty, funny, drank a little himself, and the author of more wise proverbs than I thought possible. In the Foreword, Dr. Maier warns us of Luther's language.Most of the best stuff has been edited out and is on the publisher's website at www.hansa-hewlett.com.If there is ever a reprint of this book, I recommend that it all be included and nothing left out.



The conversations at Luther's table are highly informative.In his own words, we learn about his life as a monk, his crisis of faith and the break with the Church at Rome.I believe several Lutheran ministers would profit from reading his section on Advice to the Clergy, i.e., how to preach a sermon and when to stop.



I like the idea that Luther's comments are catalogued under the name of the student who took the notes at the table, and everything is made vivid and alive by giving us the date.The several commentaries to the Luther "Table Talks" help put everything in perspective. I highly recommend this book to everyone looking for some meaningful comments regarding what life is all about...not just the Lutheran life, or the Christian life. The photographs, which I have not seen before, are a treasure in themselves."

Off The Record With Martin Luther
Off The Record With Martin LutherThis is a remarkable book.I had no idea the conversations around the Luther dinner table had been recorded by the students.Dr.Paul Maier tells us that Daudert has done a great job of translating, and I have to agree. Dr. Maier is a second vice president of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, and a professor of ancient history.He received his doctor's degree from the University of Basel, Switzerland, and has himself translated from Latin and German.Thus, he knows whereof he speaks!Dr Maier himself has several books with several million copies in print.

I like the way the book is put together, and as stated on the back cover, you do get the feeling you are sitting right there with the great reformer, listening to his valuable wisdoms.There is so much insight to Luther's life and theology, his family and academic life, the history of the reformation, and the great courage of this "real" man, that it must be read over and over.And Christian or not, Lutheran or not, I highly recommend experiencing the wisdom expounded by Luther in this book. ... Read more

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Product Description
In this beautifully written book, Gary Selby shows how Martin Luther King, Jr. used the biblical story of Exodus to motivate African Americans in their struggle for freedom from racial oppression. Through an examination of King's major speeches, Selby illuminates the ways in which King drew from the Exodus narrative to offer his listeners a structure that explained their present circumstances, urged united action, and provided the conviction that they would succeed. Selby explains how King constructed a symbolic framework for interpreting the setbacks of the Civil Rights movement, even as he challenged them to remain faithful to the cause. ... Read more

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Mary Eloise is disappointed that the part she gets in the school play is that of Black History narrator--but two storytellers visit her school and change how she views her heritage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Good Book
The book has an ok plot it is about a girl, Mary Elouise who wants to be the narrator in the President's Month play but got the part in the Black History Month Play.

Mary is also embarrassed about her race. She hates it when other people talk about black history or even mentions the name slave.

Mary wants to have lighter skin. Like this girl Brandy in her class who is white and rich. Mary wants to be Brandy's friend because she is rich and white. Brandy does not like Mary. Brandy thinks Mary is annoying and does not want to be around her or be her friend. Mary is jealous of Brady's best friend, Kenyetta because she also wants to be Brandy's best friend.

One weekend when Mary was visiting her grandma, Big Momma, she tells Mary to be proud of her background and race, And that you should not ever want to be someone else.

I really liked the book because it taught people to be proud of their ancestors and heritage. I really like the plot also. It might also deal with someone else's life. This book teaches a very good life lesson.

Thank You Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.!Book Review
This is a touching book for all ages.There is a very valuable lesson that is in this story.That is don't ever judge a person by how they look or how they act, you have to get to know the person first. The main character in this book is Mary Elouise.She is a bright young girl and she badly wants to be the narrator in the Presidents month school play.She ends up getting the part as the narrator for the Black history segment instead and is very offended because she thinks that the only reason her teacher her teacher Miz Vereen picked her because she is black.In the end a storyteller visits Mary's school and teaches her a very valuable less that she will cherish forever. She realizes a lot of things after this, like she was thought she would probably be the best for the narrating part in the Black history segment.Most importantly she becomes a lot happier for herself, and realizes who her real friends are and what they are really worth.

Thank You, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.!
Thank You, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.! is a very good book. It is about a young girl who is African-American. She is embarrased about her race. Whenever the subject comes up she slides down in her seat. She is in her school's play. She is picked to be a speaker. There is a Valentine's Day speaker, a President's Month speaker, and a Black history speaker. She gets picked to play the Black history speaker. She talks to her Mother, sister, Grandmother 'Big Mamma', and an African-American author that comes to talk to her class. At the same time she is trying to become friends with a girl in her class. She thinks that the girl hates her. By the time the school play comes around she is becoming friends with the girl with the help of Big Mamma and she is proud of being an African-American. This isa tactful way of teaching us not to be prejudice. I think everyone should read this. You can find another review by me by reading the Good Night, Mr. Tom reviews.

Thank you, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I rate this book a five (on a scale from 1-5) because this story has a very good lesson and there were times that I would laugh and times that I would feel very badly for some of the characters. The moral I like a lotbecause of the way that the author describes in the feeling of her words. Ilike this book because it has very good characters and I like the way theauthor described this book. She used lots of verbs and nouns.I think thatthis book deserves a newberry award. She has the qualifications of a famousnewberry award-winning author. This book contains similarities from otherstruggles of the times where black and white people were in a war so tospeak. This book has lots of things that deal with it like when she has totry to read a part of a black African American when her friends are allagainst that because they are white. She feels very disappointed when shefinds out that they are turning against her on that issue. She feelsdisclosed from her world. The books that I have read about these issuessometimes bring me to tears. This book has brought on a new subject to mylife individuality. I love this book. ... Read more

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Historian Gerald McKnight chronicles the extra-legal and illegal attempts of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI to subvert the Poor People's Campaign--Martin Luther King Jr.'s most ambitious and radical effort to force Washington to adhere to the promises of the Great Society and the war against poverty. McKnight shows how Hoover's watchdogs were aided by local law enforcement and elements of the federal government. ... Read more

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Few figures in history have defined their time as dramatically as Martin Luther. And few books have captured the spirit of such a figure as truly as this robust and eloquent life of Luther. A highly regarded historian and biographer and a gifted novelist and playwright, Richard Marius gives us a dazzling portrait of the German reformer--his inner compulsions, his struggle with himself and his God, the gestation of his theology, his relations with contemporaries, and his responses to opponents. Focusing in particular on the productive years 1516-1525, Marius' detailed account of Luther's writings yields a rich picture of the development of Luther's thought on the great questions that came to define the Reformation.

Marius follows Luther from his birth in Saxony in 1483, during the reign of Frederick III, through his schooling in Erfurt, his flight to an Augustinian monastery and ordination to the outbreak of his revolt against Rome in 1517, the Wittenberg years, his progress to Worms, his exile in the Wartburg, and his triumphant return to Wittenberg. Throughout, Marius pauses to acquaint us with pertinent issues: the question of authority in the church, the theology of penance, the timing of Luther's "Reformation breakthrough," the German peasantry in 1525, Müntzer's revolutionaries, the whys and hows of Luther's attack on Erasmus.

In this personal, occasionally irreverent, always humane reconstruction, Luther emerges as a skeptic who hated skepticism and whose titanic wrestling with the dilemma of the desire for faith and the omnipresence of doubt and fear became an augury for the development of the modern religious consciousness of the West. In all of this, he also represents tragedy, with the goodness of his works overmatched by their calamitous effects on religion and society.

Thebook's broad scope gives it an appealing quality of honestly grapplingwith the fullest possible understanding of Luther's situation as a manof the middle ages, even if Marius's ultimate verdict on Luther andhis legacy is quite harsh. Marius claims that Luther's angrydenunciations of Catholics, Jews, and other Protestants exacerbatedthe disastrous nationalist movements and religious schisms thatdetermined the subsequent course of European history. "Luther'stemperament was his tragedy," Marius writes. "He was an absolutist,demanding certainty in a dark and conflict-ridden world where nothingis finally sure and mystery abounds against a gloom that mayultimately be driven by fate, the impersonal chain of accidents thattakes us where we would not go because our destiny is to be the peoplewe are, and so we have no choice but tragedy." --Michael JosephGross ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

awful
I have a B.A. in philosophy and an M.A. in history. I am 67 years old. I have read probably thousands of books over my lifetime. I pride myself on always having finished any book I started.

Marius' book is one of the rare exceptions. I read some selected passage--on the Jews, the peasant's war, and his treatise On the Bondage of the Will--and had to put it down.

I'll put it down in the figurative sense too. Although I have never been a practicing historian, I think that I can detect bias when I see it. A good test is use of modifiers (mostly adjectives). The objective writer is spare in his use of such words. When he uses them, they are not intemperate and they are backed by evidence. Marius badly fails this test. With respect to his comments on Bondage of the Will, I am very familiar with this book and I wonder if I and Marius read the same thing.

Yes, I am Lutheran and an admirer of Luther. Because he faced death in a good cause, he is a hero--and I have few of them. I acknowledge his occasional intemperate language, but most of this is the barnyard language that was typical of his age, and some of it was intended to be humorous or sarcastic. His nasty language in the treatise on the peasant's war was appropriate to the occasion. I won't try to excuse his essay on the Jews--it was his one big mistake--but even the language of it was not up to (say) Calvin, who is another biased and intemperate writer. I also think that "Here I stand, I can do no other" is probably apocryphal. But if we judge people by their faults, who will stand. The good that he did, and truths that he found and published, are incalculable.

Forget this book. Read Bainton, read anyone, but don't bother with Marius. I could say much worse, but I won't speak ill of the dead.

Thorough book.Marius honest about himself.Bad "N" word.
Marius writes a 'good' book about Luther.The bottom line is that Marius wrote as an atheist, but was honest about this and his biases in the preface to the book- most historians and authors are not.So, Protestants (Lutherans in particular) will be upset by Marius' quoting of the frequently off-color and foul-mouthed Luther.Catholics and Orthodox will be be upset by points favoring Luther.And all believers will be upset by Marius' desire to interpret Luther's mentality in terms of psychology rather than spirituality-- ie, Luther was 'depressed' rather than fearful of God's judgment. Here you will find Marius summarizing and addressing (with his own views at times overturning the status quo) all of the major topics and arguments about Luther-- in this sense, itis also a great summary of 'where things stand' in the academic world regarding Luther.

I have one BIG disappointment.Marius writes on page 416 that the peasants were "the ni##ers of
their time" (p. 416).I wrote to the publisher about this and have yet to receive a response.The offensive word is unnecessary, a bad metaphor, and was non-existent until the early American period...Anyway, Marius is a highly acclaimed academic who should have known better, and certainly could have used a different descriptive phrase.That's my one big "shame on you" for this book, and hopefully the word will be edited out of future print runs.

Do youknow yourChristian history-the Legacy of Martin Luther......
I have not read this book.I see it has many bad reviews--by those who feel Luther was a "Good" man, a "Good" Christian, A Hero even, somehow they feel this writer is slamming him.What I find disturbing is this... It appears 90% of all Christians today who call themselves Protestants have NO inkling to what damage this Man, this leader, this Revolutionary, has brought upon man since This Reformation. The simple POWER and damage of HIS WORDS, His BELIEFS, His GREAT influence -have done thru out History... PLEASE visit a few Holocaust Museums, look up the one in Florida on the net, type in "On Jews & their Lies" written by this wonderful man, Martin Luther, read his quotes for yourself.Do a search on His quotes on "REASON" also while you are at it. He is an Embarrasment to the Faith of Christianity.Even the Luthern Church gave an Official Apology (in the 1990's) for this book/pamphlet written 3 yrs before his death, How HIS Influence, his Legacy, his words set the stage for what Hitler did to millions of Jews. Hitler did ALL Of the things listed in Martin Luthers "dirty little book"- what some call it.Christians should be standing against this man and His legacy. And questioning every singe idea, or belief that came from him.The man did NOT have the "Fruits".

Fine Intellectual Overview of Luther's Seminal Works. Buy It.
`Martin Luther' by historian, novelist, and playwright Richard Marius is a finely crafted intellectual biography of the central figure behind the 16th century split in Western Christendom that became known as the Reformation.

One of the first impressions I get from reading this book is the shock of seeing opposing religious groups' warring against and executing `heretics', the easy term for people who don't agree with them; corruption and sexual misconduct in the Roman church; near empty Evangelical churches and poorly paid pastors; conservative Christian factions battling for local political control; and religious indifference among the great mass of less well educated. This is a sketch of the state of affairs at the apex of the `Age of Faith', decades before Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler turned the rational world on its ear by upsetting the world view of Medieval terracentric cosmology.

For this perspective alone this book is a great contribution to an educated person's intellectual point of view, but the book offers much, much more. But before I get too far, let me be clear about what it does not cover.

First, it does not cover all of Luther's life. In fact, the last chapter ends in 1525 with Luther's debate over freedom of the will with Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, with the publication of Luther's `On the Slavery of the Will', his response to Erasmus' much shorter `Discourse on Free Will'. This is almost 20 years before Luther passes away in 1545. This is an appropriate stopping point, as Luther and many of his interpreters regard this as his most important work, along with the catechism. Marius does not agree that this is Luther's most important work, and makes a very good case for why this is not so in his narrative of the twelve years between his mature theological works (especially on Paul's letters to the Romans and Galatians, and on the Psalms) and the publication of `On Slavery of the Will'. Luther's translation of the Bible into German, with comments, and the pamphlets `The Freedom of a Christian' and `Babylonian Captivity of the Church' are more seminal, and far more important than the '95 Theses' which was really just the little pebble which got the great snowball of the Reformation started.

Second, it makes no pretense at covering all of Luther's published works, which occupy 55 large volumes in the standard English translation and even more volumes in the German edition of his translated Latin and German works. In fact, the author claims that most Lutheran scholars don't even pretend to have read his complete output.

What is much more important is the perspective Marius does give on Luther and his movement. On the positive side of the Reformation, one must dig to imagine any greater or more important intellectual conversation than the one between Luther, Erasmus, and Thomas More of England. The battle of these intellects is made more monumental by the fact that it is based almost entirely on reason, arguments over the role of tradition, and the interpretation of writings from 1400 years ago. Marius makes it clear that after the initial outrage on the sale of indulgences, the conflict within a very few years centered on the value of tradition and the witness to faith by the Saints over the years (argued by the Roman church) against the total reliance on the original scriptures (argued by Luther). And, it was important to base one's beliefs not only on the original scriptures, but to focus on the life and teachings of Jesus and his most important apostle, Paul.

One of the ironies behind the controversy between Luther and Erasmus is that the latter writer was a much deeper scholar into the philology and interpretation of the ancient Greek and Hebrew texts. In fact, Luther relied heavily on Erasmus' commentaries on the original texts in doing his German translation of scriptures. So, with Erasmus and Luther, we have the embryo of modern Bible scholarship that does not weigh every word and every work in the scripture equally. Luther, for example, clearly did not like James' letter because he felt that unlike Paul, it does not give enough importance to faith and grace rather than on `good works'. This selective interpretation of the scriptures was also a powerful argument against the literal interpretations of the scriptures by Zwingli and Calvin. But, we also discover that Luther and Calvin were really not that far apart on the central doctrine of predestination and the illusion of free will.

The most important thing I take from this book is Luther's dismissal of reason, especially Aristotle's logic in reaching the ultimate truth in Christian doctrine, and his stressing the fact that the ultimate acts of faith and grace are based on the mystery of Jesus Christ's sacrifice, death, resurrection, and `dual' nature as both human and divine. And, the only real evidence we have of this is in the scriptures (especially the gospel of John and Paul's letters). The irony of this position is that Luther relies on reason to sustain this position and destroy the edifice of Roman tradition. A second important lesson I take from this book is the fact that after discarding four of the seven Roman sacraments (and reducing penance to a private act), Luther essentially creates a new sacrament out of the sermon, the interpretation of the scripture to the layman, the `priesthood of all believers'. The downside of this shift from Roman practice is that while Roman churches are open all week, Lutheran churches are locked down except for Sunday morning and even then, interest wanes if the pastor does not illuminate the scripture.

While I feel the need to read a second Luther biography to learn of the political side of the Reformation, I truly admire Marius' service to us in laying out the intellectual narrative and foundations of Luther's Reformation.

poor writing and slanderous
the writer, a Harvard Professor, displays an accute amateurish tone throughout the book. Unsuccessfully tries to diminish Luther's accomplishments and genius with improbable assumptions and irrelevant speculation. It's a weak biography and flawed historical account. If the poor quality of this book is indicative of the intellectual level at Harvard, I would say that they have serious problems. In fact, what is their great reputation all about? ... Read more

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Throughout the 1950s and 60s, the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., led the Civil Rights movement, inspiring generations of Americans and transforming the future of the United States. In his speeches, Dr. King expressed his hope that one day all people, regardless of race or nationality, would be accepted. His belief that nonviolent protest is the key to democracy and his assertion that all humans are created equal are as timeless and powerful today as they were 30 years ago. This collection includes the text of Dr. King's best-known oration, "I Have a Dream," his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, and "Beyond Vietnam," a compelling argument for ending the ongoing conflict. Each speech has an insightful introduction on the current relevance of Dr. King's words by such renowned defenders of civil rights as Rosa Parks, the Dalai Lama, and Ambassador Andrew Young, among others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Misleading Product
This book was listed as "New" and was priced at a new price too.It ended up being a very used book straight from the public library including all sorts of stamps and stickers with the name of the library crossed out.It even had the pocket that's used to hold the check out slips.This was going to be a gift for my husband for his library, not very attractive.But the worst part of it all was the customer service. The only way to communicate with this company is through a message posting board on their web site.But the only posts I ever saw were my own.When I did follow the link they sent me in my email account a day or two later I told them of my wishes to return the book.Now, the fun began because they kept wanting to counter offer with discounts first 10% off if I would keep the book, then 20%, when all I wanted was to get my money of $40+, shipping not included and get a NEW book before my husband's birthday. Eventually, I had to get Amazon involved to help resolve this.Any_book responded but only to tell me they would take a few days to deposit my refund after they received the book (again shipping not included). And I was running out of time.

False advertising on this one guys.

Hope this helps someone.It may have been a good experience if they told me it was very used and charged me accordingly. BTW - Amazon has a lifetime limit on how many times you can file a claim against a seller. Use them wisely.

Inspiring work
This is a series of Martin Luther King's best speeches with an introduction (I think 11 total) and it'sa terrific book.More than just a civil rights leader, King also opposes the Vietnam War and praises the leader of newly independent Ghana (formerly a colony of the british empire). The theme King hits is freedom. My only difference with King is that he's ultrareligious and I'm an atheist; perhaps that made me unaable to appreciate some of his Biblical references. Notwithstanding, I highly recommend this book.

Very inspirational
My parents and I have listened to all the CDs with the greatest enthusiasm over and over again. The quality is pretty good and the speeches are not extracts, but played in full. Barring few, I have found most of the introductions to be very informative and well presented. I am glad this collection includes both of Dr King's most famous "I have a Dream" and "I've been to the Mountaintop" speeches - I had noticed that most audio tapes include only one or the other, or both in extract form. I would certainly recommend this to anyone interested in great speeches. Also, one may access American Rhetoric website for the transcripts of these speeches to follow with the powerful voice of Dr King.

American that neede change
this is by far the greatest speeches made by dr.martin luther king jr, that changeamerica by far every true american should have a copy of it. i enjoylistening to it over andover again,

An Excellent Resource
I really enjoyed listening to the authentic voices of Dr. King and others on this CD.It has been an essential resource for my students, faculty and staff as well as very important to my community.I have been able to relearn and share the CD with many different settings during Black History month as well as with in the context of the King Holiday in January.This material and the authentic way it its delivered has made the "Black Experience" that much more real to every one I have shared the CD with.

I thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed this version of Dr. King's speeches.
... Read more

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Level 2: Reading Independently

• More complex stories
• Varied sentence structure
• Paragraphs and short chapters

Young Martin Luther King Jr. is having some problems with his best friend, Bobby. First, they are going to different schools this year. Next, Bobby's dad is not letting his son play with Martin. When Martin learns why, he is confused and hurt -- but he learns a lesson that he will never forget. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An accurate and compelling little story
This book is beautifully drawn and simple, yet, effective in its storytelling. It doesn't portray Martin's family as being poor even though it doesn't mention that Martin's father is a minister. But that's not what the story's about. The point, I think, is to look at Martin Luther King, Jr. as an average little boy who's story is all too common of that era.
It's a story about prejudice impacting a kid. In the end Martin does say he wants to change things, and I'm sure kids' will put two and two together, but it's not a biography. It's a description of a life-changing scene from childhood.
... Read more

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FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Briefly recounts the life of the African American minister who devoted his life to civil rights and discusses the national holiday in his name celebrated on the third Monday of January. ... Read more

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The definitive account of the assassination ofMartin Luther King, Jr.

On April 4 1968, Martin Luther King was in Memphis supporting a workers' strike. By nightfall, army snipers were in position, military officers were on a nearby roof with cameras, and Lloyd Jowers had been paid to remove the gun after the fatal shot was fired. When the dust had settled, King had been hit and a clean-up operation was set in motion-James Earl Ray was framed, the crime scene was destroyed, and witnesses were killed. William Pepper, attorney and friend of King, has conducted a thirty-year investigation into his assassination. In 1999, Loyd Jowers and other co-conspirators were brought to trial in a civil action suit on behalf of the King family. Seventy witnesses set out the details of a conspiracy that involved J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, Richard Helms and the CIA, the military, Memphis police, and organized crime. The jury took an hour to find for the King family. In An Act of State, you finally have the truth before you-how the US government shut down a movement for social change by stopping its leader dead in his tracks.

Customer Reviews (4)

History is indebted to William Pepper
William Pepper's powerful recounting of his thirty-year quest to uncover the truth behind the assassination of Martin Luther King, is absolutely riveting.Who knew that a civil jury had found that a governmental conspiracy was behind the King assassination?History is indebted to Mr. Pepper for the dedicated work he has done here,and in the process for revealing the mainstream media for what it is--the public relations firm for a murderous and corrupted government.Fearing the emergence of the "New World Order?"Apparently that nightmare has been a reality since at least the 1960s.

On a more optimistic note, especially moving in "An Act of State" is Mr. Pepper's insight into, and expression of, all that Martin Luther King stood for and believed in.And yes, Mr. King's dream does live on in each of us who internalized it, as Mr. Pepper prosaically notes in the afterword.

A model for successful assassinations
It's front-page news in 2009 that Dick Cheney presided over covert hit squads operating around the world and very likely in the US, too. It may be "news" --- but it's not really new.

What this flawed but very important book reveals, based on 20 years of research by attorney Pepper, is the MO used in the '60s to eliminate an enemy of the Status Quo. Pepper's investigation determined that King was most likely killed by a hidden gunman who happened to be the Memphis police force's top marksman, and he in turn was backed up by Army Special Ops snipers posted on nearby buildings to "triangulate" the target. (Perhaps this sounds absurd --- please read the book.) A patsy,James Earl Ray, was framed to take the rap; the rifle he supposedly used was found to be woefully inaccurate, and bullets fired from it didn't match the one that killed King. Witnesses and peripheral participants in the crime were murdered. Evidence was lost or tampered with. Ray pleaded guilty on the advice of his lawyer, Percy Foreman, who had deep connections to the likely perpetrators of the assassination. A massive cover-up and disinfo campaign ensured that the public would discount any version of what happened in favor of the official myth.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Every American should know the facts presented in this book
In short, Martin Luther King was killed by agents of the City of Memphis, the State of Tennessee, and the Federal Government.The family sued for his wrongful death, the case was argued before a jury, which found for the King Family.

The family has posted the transcript from the trial at their website, so you can follow-up and learn more after reading the book:

http://www.thekingcenter.org/news/trial.html

It is very important that everyone in the US and the world understands that it will be almost impossible for some lone-nut to kill Obama unless the Secret Service stands down.

Compelling Story of US Government Role in Death of Martin Luther King
Edit of 8 May 08:Reverend Wright preaches in the negative, but this does not mean he is wrong, only inflamatory.Senator Obama's first instinct was correct: he can no more deny those who walked with us than we can the truth.In renouncing Reverend Wright, Senator Obama demonstrated his subordination to "the system," the same subordination that swallowed Colin Powell, who confused loyalty with integrity.

John 8:32 Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The updated book is better than the original because it includes a post 9-11 Afterword.

So many people are going to consider this book to be a provocation, a conspiracy theory, revisionist, etc. I will start with three compelling reasons to take this seriously:

1.The author is a recognized barrister in England and lawyer in the US.His reputation is impeccable, and he is respected by heads of state and of international organizations concerned with human rights.

2.The author brought a civil suit in which it took the jury less than one hour of deliberation after all the facts had been laid out, to find for the plaintiffs (the King family survivors) and agree that the US Government was complicit in his murder.

3.The evidence of US Government complicity in crimes against humanity as well as high crimes and misdemeanors of all sorts, is now over-whelming within the non-fiction literature.Cover-ups are the norm.

Here are my flyleaf notes:

+ King was leading a coalition of peace and civil rights in 1967, one that expanded to address economic injustice and the rights of indigenous people's everywhere, but especially in Viet-Nam.This "new politics," like the third party politics of today, was so threatening to the Mafia, to banks and corporations, and to the US political and FBI leadership committed to "because we say so, right or wrong," that he was ordered killed.

+ The author tells us that by 1970 King's moral authority was directly challenging the moral bankruptcy of the American "state," which King aptly described as "the greatest purveyor of violence on Earth."See my review of The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World and also Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

+ Unlike others who accepted the government's fictional account at face value, the author actually interviewed James Earl Ray in prison, and over time clearly established both Ray's veracity, and additional evidence.

+ The FBI burglarized Martin Luther King over 20 times.

+ Less than one month after the John F. Kennedy assassination (he was warned and discounted the warning delivered by his brother), the FBI made Martin Luther King its top target, focusing on "neutralizing King as an effective leader."The cover-up is exposed in Someone Would Have Talked: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Conspiracy to Mislead History.

+ At least two funded "hits" on King were discovered, but the one that succeeded involved Frank Liberto, a Mafia boss in the food business, who evidently forgave a major debt from Lloyd Jowers who served as the on-site cut-out for the weapon but did not do the shooting himself.Links are discussed between the FBI, the Mafia, and local police.

+ The local police pulled back all assigned security, took black officers off watch, and evidently arranged to have King moved from a protected inner courtyard room to an upper room directly in the line of sight from the bushes where the shooter was planning to be.

+ 30 years seems to be the magic time period that must pass before individuals sworn to secrecy to protect political malfeasance realize they should ease their consciences before death.

+ The book includes an appendix that shows the many times the Department of Justice willfully lied or omitted evidence in its own investigation.

+ The author presented nine areas to a court that found for the plaintiff; they are listed on page 108:

01 the background to the assassination
02 the local conspiracy
03 the crime scene
04 the murder weapon
05 Raul (the handler)
06 the broader conspiracy
07 the cover up--its scope and activities
08 the defendant's prior admissions
09 damages

The King family sought damages of just $100.Far more important to them was the verdict of the jury: the US Government, and particularly the FBI and US Army counterintelligence elements acting against US citizens on US soil, were complicit in the murder (assassination) of Martin Luther King.

The author places King is direct opposition to the materialism and the secularization of life to include a loss of morality in US foreign policy.Specifically mentioned in this book are King's objection to US Government support for dictators.See my review of Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025.

The author states that he could not have obtained a trial date, much less a verdict, without the full engagement of the King family.Their participation was of inestimable value, he says.He then goes on to describe how the media, which did not attend the trial, slandered (broadcast) and libeled (print) the family and the memory of Martin Luther King.[This is the same media that refused to run $100,000 cash in advance information advertisements against the elective war on Iraq.]

The author specifically warns of the discreet movement in 2007 of the Violent Radicalization Act allowing the White House to redirect the National Guard from any state to any other state, and believes that there is now an explicit fear among "the elite" of impending and complete system collapse and a public rebellion of consequence.

I have a note from the book, that Martin Luther King was branded a traitor.So also was General Tony Zinni, USMC (Ret), the most recently retired Commander in Chief of the U.S. Central Command, and the single most knowledgeable authority at the time on Iraq, Iran, the Middle East, the Pakistan wild card, and Afghanistan.My bottom line: we are lied to; the "experts" are not expert and pander for access--it is time we assert the collective intelligence of We the People.

Completely unexpected to me, but relevant in the context of other books I have been reading, is the author's outline of how King and allthat he stood for called into question the entire-military industrial complex and the misdirection of most of our money toward waging war.See my review of War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier and of the DVD Why We Fight.

The last page of the body of the book, page 288, has this quote that I marked:

"Martin King firmly believed that non-violent civil disobedience was the best strategy to obtain justice.There is little doubt in my mind that massive non-violent civil disobedience has the potential to shut down the nation, and compel substantive social, economic, political, and cultural change, leading to the reconstruction of the Republic with a focus on the needs of people rather than capital.His dream lives on in each of us who internalized it."

See these two books for a taste of our potential:
Spoiling for a Fight: Third-Party Politics in America
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace

Why the two party system is organized crime at its best:
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It

Why Senator Barack Obama is not the one (and today he Uncle Tom'ed himself--Reverend Wright's concerns are firmly founded on non-fiction):
Obama - The Postmodern Coup: Making of a Manchurian Candidate

To fulfill the dream, we need a third party with no experts, just us. ... Read more

Product Description
The subject of freedom is both timely and poignantly relevant today. For the Christian, this freedom is liberty from sin and death, and the opportunity to serve one's neighbor. Written in a simple style, "Christian Liberty" conveys significant spiritual insight into the grace of God and liberating faith in Christ Jesus. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Here is where you start in developing an understanding of Protestantism
Martin Luther, On Christian Liberty (The Freedom of a Christian), Translated by W. A. Lambert, revised by Harold J. Grimm (Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 2003)

Luther's works translated into English comprise 55 thick volumes. Looking at the editions of his works in German and in Latin, I can believe that even those 55 volumes are not complete. So where does one start with this vast volume of writing? This little book is about as good a starting point as one could wish for. It may not be Luther's best statement of his position. For that, one may need to go to the far more difficult The Bondage of the Will, but this little work, written in the heat of the opening battles of the Reformation, in 1520, may be one of the most concise statements of Reformation theology you will find anywhere. It is an especially good balance to The Bondage of the Will, which may leave one in a pessimistic mood, after reading the long argument against free will and the complete inability of a person to affect their own salvation.

Following Paul's epistles, especially Romans and Galatians, Luther spells out the Reformation doctrine of sola fide, faith alone. That's the easy part. Luther does at least two additional things which illuminate that doctrine and show us where it takes us.

I'm particularly taken by Luther's opening sentence: `Many people have considered Christian faith an easy thing, and not a few have given it a place among the virtues'. This statement is reassuring to those who may like to think they have a Christian faith, but have doubts. As those who have read a biography or two of Luther will attest, he is not being clever or cute when he says that he himself has `...no wealth of faith to boast of...'. He was beset by doubt well into his term as an Augustinian monk.

Appropriate to much of Luther's thinking, the cornerstone of this littlebook is an antinomy, a lovely little word denoting two statements which appear to contradict one another. The statements are:

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

Both are from statements by Paul. The first means that the true Christian is no longer bound by the law. Obeying the law serves him no purpose. But the reason for that freedom is his faith in the saving power of and love of Christ. Love and faith implies trust, and trust in the will of Christ means that we are ready, willing, and as much as we are able, dedicated to serving others.

One direction where Luther goes beyond Paul is in explaining how all of this works. It is based on man's twofold nature, `...a spiritual and a bodily one.'The law is designed primarily to govern our bodily nature while faith, and salvation addresses our spiritual nature. Apparent contradictions regarding human nature arise when we match statements regarding our human nature with our spiritual nature.

An inference which Luther draws from this is that all those things which people do to discipline their body, such as contemplation, meditation, fasting, and what have you, has no effect on one's spiritual salvation. A further inference is that as ineffective as these things are, that is exactly how important and efficacious we find the word of God. We can experience nothing worse than to be cut off from the word of God, as Amos reports at 8:11 The time is surely coming, says the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.' Luther interjects here a clarification which answers the question one may have. If there is so many `words', after all, the Bible is a very long book, what is it that we must attend to. As Paul says in Romans 1, `the Word is the gospel of God concerning his Son, who was made flesh, suffered, rose from the dead, and was glorified through the spirit...' This is why Luther had little interest in books such as James, where there is but one reference to Christ.

With all this talk of `freedom', Luther takes great pains to address the fact that this doctrine does not license one to do whatever they please. There are two `controls'. The first is that `Christians should be subject to the governing authorities and be ready to do every good work'. Lutherans are all about giving unto Caesar what is Caesar's. Taken to extreme, this meant that the German Lutherans did not object to Hitler's Nazi extremes when they had the chance. The more important conclusion regarding how one lives is that `...a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian.' Our Christian freedom is a freedom of the spirit and not of the flesh. For our own part, it is more Christian to serve others rather than ourselves. But at the same time, according to Paul at Romans 14:3, `Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them.' Paul seems to draw a fine line between permitting the practices of ethnic Jews who cherish their dietary laws, and preventing those same Jews from insisting that `Christians' be circumcised. Paul would criticize the intolerant, just as Luther would criticize as un-Christian the kinds of policy or practices which abstain from helping our fellow humans.

This little book is worth a month of Sunday sermons.

The Freedom of a ChristianFountainhead of the Reformation
The Freedom of a Christian is the very beginning of the Reformation.Like a great spiritual atomic bomb The Freedom of a Christian changed the world forever.Free at last...

Luther Rocks
This book gives you the essential teachings of Martin Luther, the founder of both the Lutheran demonination and the Protestant Reformation. He's one of the all time most important people in Christianity. Liberty from sin and death and serving your neighbor is what he's getting at here. It will straighten God's grace on the reader and give them a stronger faith in Jesus Christ.

A great ONE-TWO punch against the abuses by the Catholic Church in Luther's time
This powerful little book is a solid, one-two punch from Luther about the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church at the time.It is an excellent synopsis of grace and the freedom of Christians.Where we were once enslaved by sin and could do nothing good, when saved by Grace, God is able to work good through us.That is, when saved, we are then truly free.

The second punch, if you will, is the letter Luther sent to Pope Leo X wherein he tells the pope that Luther is a friend of the church but speaks out against the sacreligious and sinful Indulgences being sold to masses by those around the Pope.Luther debunks the notion that we can buy our own salvation.

I'd recommend that you read the introduction, then the letter, then the actual essay, and THEN reread the letter to the Pope because it will speak so much louder.

The Fire and Hammer of the Word of God (Jeremiah 23:29)
Martin Luther's treatise "Christian Liberty" (or "The Freedom of a Christian") is perhaps the most powerful and concise presentation of the Christian life ever written. I cannot recommend this work highly enough. I rank this among the very best of Luther's works (and that is really saying something). If an inexpensive copy were still in publication I would buy every copy to give as gifts to friends and family. The power, discernment, brevity and readability of this work make a true gem among Reformation writings (and Christian writings in general). Here you will find the essence of the spirit of the Reformation distilled into a guide for practical, biblical living.

With the clarity and bold authority of a true prophet, Luther sets forth the whole of the Christian life in two theses: "A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all." We are free from sin and the law (subject to none) but slaves to Christ in love (subject to all). As Paul writes in Romans 6:22, "But now...you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God."

Luther writes as a shepherd of the common people and the tone and content differ greatly from his better-known debate-oriented works (ie. Bondage of the Will, 95 Theses). The doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is the heart and soul of Luther's message, founded upon a firm conviction in the authority of scripture alone.

He writes, "One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ."

And again, "It ought to be the first concern of every Christian to lay aside all confidence in works and increasingly to strengthen faith alone and through faith to grow in the knowledge, not of works, but of Christ Jesus, who suffered and rose for him.... No other work makes a Christian.... 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent' (John 6:29)."

And regarding our service to God, "...In this way the stronger member may serve the weaker, and we may be sons of God, each caring for and working for the other, bearing one another's burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ. This is a truly Christian life. Here faith is truly active through love. That is, it finds expression in works of the freest service, cheerfully and lovingly done, with which a man willingly serves another without hope of reward; and for himself he is satisfied with the fullness and wealth of his faith."

I cannot vouch for the quality of this particular volume (the actual work is only 30 standard pages long), but the treatise has been published in a number of other individual volumes and in at least one very worthy compilation entitled "Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings" (ed. Timothy F. Lull, 1989) which also contains a number of other infinitely worthy works such as Luther's "Small Catechism," the stirring "Meditation of Christ's Passion," and the thesis chapters of the foundational "Bondage of the Will."Any version of this monumental treatise is bound to bless you. It is the fire and the hammer of the Word of God to consume the adversaries and break apart the stone hearts of impenitant men.
... Read more

Product Description
Ralph David Abernathy and Martin Luther King Jr. were inseparable and together helped to establish what would become the modern American Civil Rights Movement. They preached, marched, and were frequently jailed together. Donzaleigh Abernathy, Ralph’s youngest daughter, has written Partners to History as a testament to the courage, strength, and endurance of these men who stirred a nation with their moral fortitude. She also pays tribute to the thousands of unsung heroes—the other partners to this history—who were foot soldiers in the endless struggle for freedom, justice, and equality.This document captures in words and pictures how the dream of two visionaries changed the course of American history and inspired the world.

Partners to History is a unique look at a troubling time, and its usage of dramatic—and personal—photographs, combined with the voices of King and Abernathy, seamlessly conveys the fears, frustrations, and pain of the long days and nights spent planning the many crusades. Donzaleigh Abernathy’s recollections provide personal insight from someone who lived through the tumult and witnessed firsthand the relationship of these lifelong friends. “People didn’t know Daddy and Uncle Martin,” she writes. “They know the legends.They don’t know the fathers, the husbands, the men, the human beings. I feel obliged to tell the beautiful stories of these beautiful men I lived with and loved.”

Chronicling the crucial events of the movement, from the early strategy sessions in the homes of integrationists and the Montgomery Bus Boycott to Birmingham, the Freedom Riders, and the March on Washington, the author provides a unique insider’s perspective. With heart-wrenching precision, she lays bare the horrifying deaths of four little girls in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and follows the search for three murdered civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi. She goes behind the scenes to the intimate moments and reveals the determination of two families caught up in the fight for equal rights.

King and Abernathy believed in a cause and laid their lives on the line time and time again, knowing deep in their hearts that they were working not only for their people, but for the good of all humankind. When, on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Ralph David Abernathy vowed to persevere and continue their dream, knowing that people could not be free until the walls came tumbling down.

Inspirational and beautifully illustrated, Partners to History reveals the remarkable relationship between two great leaders and serves as a reminder and tribute to this tumultuous era. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

An incredibly BEAUTIFUL book!!!!!!!!
This is a book that every young adult and adults should have on their coffee table!!! Never before seen pictures and told through the eyes of a child through the civil rights movement this book is a refreshing, new insight that is a fast paced read!! A book to revist again and again!!!!!

Absolutely marvelous!!!!!!
Partners to History is a beautifully written and illustrated story of the Civil Rights Movement, its unsung heroes, its celebrated heroes, and the American struggle for freedom and peace. It is imperative that educational institutions withquality American history programs have this masterful work of historical literature on its shelves.

Carla Newsome McManus
Sisters and Brothers of HotLanta Book Club
http://www.sistersbrothers.com

Absolute marvelous!!!!!!!
Partners to History is a beautifully written and illustrated story of the Civil Rights Movement, its unsung heroes, its celebrated heroes, and the struggle for freedom in America. It is imperative that any school with a quality American history program have this masterful work of historic literature on its shelves.

Carla Newsome McManus
President
Sisters and Brothers of HotLanta Book Club
http://www.sistersbrothers.com

Excellent
This book is a must have. I think it should be in all public schools. The writer tells a beautiful story about the Civil Rights Movement. The pictures are fantastic while we have all seen pictures of the Movement, these pictures tell a story. Great Job !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Extremely Powerful !!!
These images are worth more than 1 million words.They speak the truth with clarity that is rarely achieved in a discourse about race in America.This is American history in its true form.A great editing job and choice of photos.

THIS IS A CLASSIC HISTORY LESSON ... Read more

Product Description

Winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, this is the most comprehensive book ever written about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Based on more than seven hundred interviews with all of King's surviving associates, as well as with those who opposed him, and enhanced by the author's access to King's personal papers and tens of thousands of pages of FBI documents, this is a towering portrait of a man's metamorphosis into a legend.

Customer Reviews (14)

One of the best books of the civil rights movement and Dr King
It is one of the most comprhensive books I have read.It read likes a novel.Hard to put down.

The Complete Story
This book is the most comprehensive, articulate book I have ever found about Martin Luther King, Jr., the SCLC, and the Civil Rights Movement. Garrow does an incredible job being extremely detailed. Every meeting, every conversation, every thought during these troubled times is addressed in this book. This book covers the joys, trials, triumphs, and tragedies of the civil rights movement throughout the years.

I was in awe of how much I didn't know about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his incredible journey from pastor's boy to the most inspirational leader of the 20th century.

I loved this book; 4 1/2 stars
There are so many positive things to say about this comprehensive book on Dr. King and the civil rights movement. Garrow's research and story-telling are both outstanding, leading to a book that I couldn't put down and one that provided me with so much information.

One reason I love the book is that I would neither call it an overly sympathetic nor critical portrayal of King. Garrow simply presents the facts in an easily understandable fashion, allowing the reader to make his/her own conclusions. Positive and negative aspects of King's personal life and movement leadership are pointed out; it's up to us to determine his legacy. And in my mind, his legacy is as strong as ever. King sacrificed himself to the cause, and not only in his premature death, but also in living a modest life with virtually no relaxation or leisure. And what he endured at the hands of the FBI just broke my heart.

I was also impressed with the way King and the other movement leaders were humanized. Garrow didn't only list the facts about their achievements and tactical errors, but he also provided great insight into the lives of these men and women.

Here are my two gripes that, in my mind, keep the book just a hair shy of 5 stars. One, I would have liked to have learned more about King the husband and father. I know he wasn't home much, but there was very little information about the type of father he was. And two, the book ends so abruptly. How did Coretta receive and react to the news? How did America react? What was the story behind the assassination? What was his funeral like? How did the movement proceed in the immediate aftermath of his murder? These were things I wanted to learn about.

Despite that, I am so thrilled that I chose to read this book, and I would recommend it to anyone.

A life to ponder
Certainly it was the definitive biography; although there was something troubling about his use of illegally gathered materials that the FBIcollected to damn Martin, the picture painted is a real picture of a real life.Certainly Martin was always an inspiration to me, and I felt that I knew him better as a man after this biography, more so than after earlier ones.

My one major criticism is that Garrow uses a possibly mythical "night in the kitchen" as the spiritual turning point for Martin--I think it more likely that if any night mattered it was that in a jail, perhaps Selma.(Though I don't accept the idea that he chickened out for the Selma-Montgomery march--he had no reason to expect the brutal response that occurred.)Because a night in jail can really make you think about what your values are, whether it is worth suffering for truth, and whether others really WANT the truth.One of the things I think I learned from Martin is that people may not be ready for the truth now, but it is only a matter of time.

I also learned something that seems obvious, but wasn't to many of us.It is one thing to violate an unjust law publicly--and let other people see you unjustly punished.It is another to violate an unjust law privately, for even if you are in the right, when you are punished, this injustice is unlikely to draw the outrage of the citizenry, and you find yourself alone.

Of course, at the time that Martin and the SCLC were active, the courts were basically on our side--the side of the little guy.Now, as far as I can see, the law really only exists to protect large companies.Why, if Martin were to do this now, he'd be sued out of existence for "defaming" and "slandering" the good name of the great state of Alabama!If he couldn't "prove" that America really had given his people a blank check...why then, HE'D be in the wrong.And if he really let the law proceed in its own way, he'd have spent a lot more than one or two nights in jail, I can tell you that!

And from Garrow's book, I believe he still would have done it.He wasn't the initiator, but when fate knocked on his door, he opened it up and invited fate in.And that should be an inspiration to us all. [9]

Riveting It's Not
You must have to really work to turn a life so packed full of meaning and world-changing events into a snoozer of a book. I have no idea how "Bearing the Cross" received a Pulitzer Prize -- certainly not on the basis of its prose. While the author undoubtedly did an enormous amount of research, the book reads like a high school history essay; i.e. a monotonously linear string of events -- "Then King did this; then he did that; then they had an SCLC meeting; blah, blah, blah...". The book virtually no character development; in fact everyone but King are merely names on a page. It took a herculean effort to slog through the 600+ pages, but perhaps the book wasn't meant to be read straight through. Maybe this is one of those research tomes meant for reference by historians -- check out the ample index for the names, places and events you're interested in at the moment and read only snippets at a sitting.

Despite being far too long, the book has a couple major oversights. First, there are no photographs whatsoever -- for someone as widely seen on TV and newspapers as King, couldn't they have sprung for a few pages showing historical events? Second, the book abruptly ends with the assassination -- when King dies so does the book -- nothing on the national reaction to his death, nothing on Ray or the motivation for/theories around the killing.

In sum, great research, poor writing. Perhaps Taylor Branch can edit his multi-volume set into a readable single-volume account. Until then, look elsewhere for a good King biography.

... Read more

Product Description
Initially selected forty years ago by Luther master Theodore G. Tappert, Selected Writings of Martin Luther makes available again a superb collection, in an attractive and affordable edition of four volumes, now beautifully presented as a boxed set, an ideal gift for celebrating seminary graduation, ordination, clergy anniversaries, and more.

Here are Luther's most important and influential writings - from his (1517) 95 Theses to his last Prefaces to the Bible - compiled chronologically into four volumes: his early writings (1517-1520), the fruitful years of controversy (1520-1523), the years of consolidating and shaping the Reform (1523-1526), and his mature work (1529-1546).

Built from the translations prepared for Luther's Works: American Edition, this selection presents whole works in their historical setting. While emphasizing the classic works, the collection includes the full variety of Luther's literary and religious writing: polemical and irenic, satirical and contemplative, academic and devotional. This attractive set will function as a ready reference, a wonderful gift, a way for students and lay persons to read the original documents in authoritative translation, and a marvelous means of encountering the man himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great value box set
Table of Contents:

Preface to the Wittenberg Edition of Luther's German Writings, 1539
Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther's Latin Writings, 1945
Disputation Against Scholastic Theology, 1517
Ninety-five Theses, 1517
Heildelberg Disputation, 1518
Treatise on Good Works, 1520
The Papacy in Rome, an Answer to the Celebrated Romanist in Leipzig, 1520
To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate, 1520
The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 1520
The Freedom of a Christian, 1520
Why the Books of the Pope and His Disciples Were Burned, 1520
Against Latomus, 1521
Avoiding the Doctrines of Men, 1522
Eight Sermons at Wittenberg, 1522
Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should be Obeyed, 1523
The Right and Power of a Christian Church, 1523
Ordinance of a Common Chest, 1523
Concerning the Order of Public Worship, 1523
An Order of Mass and Communion for the Church at Wittenberg, 1523
An Exhortation to the Knights of the Teutonic Order, 1523
To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools, 1524
Trade and Usury, 1524
Against the Heavenly Prophets in the Matter of Images and Sacraments, 1525
Admonition to Peace, a Reply to the Twelve Articles of the Peasants in Swabia, 1525
Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants, 1525
An Open Letter on the Harsh Book Against the Peasants, 1525
The German Mass and Order of Service, 1526
Whether Soldiers, Too, Can be Saved, 1526
On War Against the Turks 1529
Exhortation to All Clergy Assembled at Augsburg, 1530
A Sermon on Keeping Children in School, 1530
On Translating: An Open Letter, 1530
On the Councils and the Church, 1539
Prefaces to the Bible, 1545-1546

A very nice box set of 4 paperback volumes.It does not contain all of Luther's most important works (in particular The Bondage of the Will, The Small and Large Catechisms and The Commentary on Galatians) but is absolutely brilliant value of some of the most important works in the history of Christianity. ... Read more

Product Description
Book Description:

"A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, or religious topic, usually expounding on a type of belief or law." (Quote from wikipedia.org)

Table of Contents:

Publisher's Preface; Enemies Of The Cross Of Christ & The Christian's Citizenship In Heaven; Christ Our Great High Priest; The Twofold Use Of The Law & Gospel: "letter" & "spirit"; Of The Office Of Preaching; The Parable Of The Sower; Christ's Holy Sufferings; On Faith & Coming To Christ; The Wheat & The Tares; Address To The Nobility; Endnotes

About the Publisher:

Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.org

Forgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

8 Volume Set is Lenker's translation of the Church Postils only.
The previous reviewer is incorrect. The 8 volume edition of Luther's Sermons were reprinted by Baker Book House in 1998. They contain only the Lenker translations of the Luther's Church Postils. The "Complete Sermons of Martin Luther" are now in 7 volumes (Baker, 2007) and contain both the Lenker translation of Luther's Church Postils and the Klug translation of Luther's House Postils.

Standard edition of Luther's House Postill and Church Postill
This is the standard edition of Lenker's translation of Luther's Church Postill and Klug's translation of Luther's House Postill. Organized according to the historic church year of western Christendom, these sermons have supported the faith of thousands of Christians over the last 500 years. Baker is to be commended for this durable, hardback edition at an inexpensive price. ... Read more

Product Description
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired his generation with a dream and a promise. His unwavering vision of a more equitable, just society permanently changed the lives of millions around the world. One of the greatest men of the twentieth century, Dr. King's faith, conviction, and strength continue to inspire us today. In 120 daily readings, Charles Ringma encourages us to reflect on Dr. King's powerful legacy. Find a moment each day to ponder his words and dare to dream. ... Read more