King: A Life
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $43.70
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Dion Graham
-
Written by:
-
Jonathan Eig
About this listen
Winner of the 2024 Audie Award for Best Nonfiction Narrator!
This program is narrated by Dion Graham, narrator of over 300 audiobooks and an AudioFile Golden Voice. Dion has won multiple Earphones and Audie Awards.
"Dion Graham superbly narrates this riveting audiobook, emulating the majestic cadence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, speeches. He captures the Civil Rights leader's deep, resonant tone; deliberate ministerial intonation; and, during offstage moments, his world-weariness... The result is a monumental biography performed exquisitely by a Golden Voice narrator."—AudioFile Magazine (Earphones Award WInner)
"This gripping biography of a revolutionary leader flies by. Listeners interested in a new perspective of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life will be captivated."—Library Journal
"King is a major achievement. With eloquence, compassion, and grace, Jonathan Eig offers a stirringly contemporary and complex portrait of a fully human—and humane—King . . . A resounding triumph."—Peniel E. Joseph, author of The Sword and the Shield
"Eig has pulled off a kind of miracle. Here is the King we know, think we know and ought to know. Here is the leader, the preacher, the orator, the husband, the father, the martyr, the human being—not with melodramatic halo in place, but in all his heroic, tragic Glory. Hallelujah!"—Ken Burns
Named a most anticipated book of 2023 by The Washington Post, The Millions, and Literary Hub
The first full biography in decades, King mixes revelatory and exhaustive new research with brisk and accessible storytelling to forge the definitive life for our times.
Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.—and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. In this revelatory new portrait of the preacher and activist who shook the world, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself. He casts fresh light on the King family’s origins as well as MLK’s complex relationships with his wife, father, and fellow activists. King reveals a minister wrestling with his own human frailties and dark moods, a citizen hunted by his own government, and a man determined to fight for justice even if it proved to be a fight to the death. As he follows MLK from the classroom to the pulpit to the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Memphis, Eig dramatically re-creates the journey of a man who recast American race relations and became our only modern-day founding father—as well as the nation’s most mourned martyr.
In this landmark biography, Eig gives us an MLK for our times: a deep thinker, a brilliant strategist, and a committed radical who led one of history’s greatest movements, and whose demands for racial and economic justice remain as urgent today as they were in his lifetime.
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
©2022 Jonathan Eig (P)2022 Macmillan AudioYou may also enjoy...
-
Reagan
- His Life and Legend
- Written by: Max Boot
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 32 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this “monumental and impressive” biography, Max Boot, the distinguished political columnist, illuminates the untold story of Ronald Reagan, revealing the man behind the mythology. Drawing on interviews with over one hundred of the fortieth president’s aides, friends, and family members, as well as thousands of newly available documents, Boot provides “the best biography of Ronald Reagan to date” (Robert Mann).
Written by: Max Boot
-
Ali
- A Life
- Written by: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 22 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was the wittiest, the prettiest, the strongest, the bravest, and, of course, the greatest (as he told us over and over again). Muhammad Ali was one of the 20th century's greatest radicals and most compelling figures. At his funeral in 2016, eulogists said Ali had transcended race and united the country, but they got it wrong. Race was the theme of Ali's life. He insisted that America come to grips with a Black man who wasn't afraid to speak out or break the rules. He didn't overcome racism. He called it out.
-
-
Excellent
- By Jeff Skrypek on 2017-12-07
Written by: Jonathan Eig
-
And There Was Light
- Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
- Written by: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Jon Meacham
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hated and hailed, excoriated and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions bound up with money, race, identity, and faith. In him we can see the possibilities of the presidency as well as its limitations. This book tells the story of Lincoln from his birth on the Kentucky frontier to his leadership during the Civil War to his tragic assassination: his rise, his self-education, his loves, his bouts of depression, his political failures, his deepening faith, and his persistent conviction that slavery must end.
-
-
Swimming in Genius
- By paul summerville on 2023-07-10
Written by: Jon Meacham
-
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- Written by: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
-
-
how could they leave off the epilogue?
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-02-21
Written by: Malcolm X, and others
-
Tunnel 29
- The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall
- Written by: Helena Merriman
- Narrated by: Helena Merriman
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1962, a young student named Joachim Rudolph dug a tunnel under the Berlin Wall. Waiting on the other side in East Berlin were dozens of men, women, and children - all willing to risk everything to escape.
-
-
Excellent
- By Roberta W on 2022-11-27
Written by: Helena Merriman
-
The Last Doctor
- Lessons in Living from the Front Lines of Medical Assistance in Dying
- Written by: Jean Marmoreo, Johanna Schneller
- Narrated by: Jean Marmoreo, Eve Crawford
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Jean Marmoreo spent her career keeping people alive. But when the Supreme Court of Canada gave the green light to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in 2016, she became one of a small group of doctors who chose to immediately train themselves in this new field. Over the course of a single year, Marmoreo learns about end-of-life practices in bustling Toronto hospitals, in hospices, and in the facilities of smaller communities. She found that the needed services were often minimal—or non-existent.
-
-
Engaging and thoughtful
- By Lori V on 2023-02-19
Written by: Jean Marmoreo, and others
-
Reagan
- His Life and Legend
- Written by: Max Boot
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 32 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this “monumental and impressive” biography, Max Boot, the distinguished political columnist, illuminates the untold story of Ronald Reagan, revealing the man behind the mythology. Drawing on interviews with over one hundred of the fortieth president’s aides, friends, and family members, as well as thousands of newly available documents, Boot provides “the best biography of Ronald Reagan to date” (Robert Mann).
Written by: Max Boot
-
Ali
- A Life
- Written by: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 22 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was the wittiest, the prettiest, the strongest, the bravest, and, of course, the greatest (as he told us over and over again). Muhammad Ali was one of the 20th century's greatest radicals and most compelling figures. At his funeral in 2016, eulogists said Ali had transcended race and united the country, but they got it wrong. Race was the theme of Ali's life. He insisted that America come to grips with a Black man who wasn't afraid to speak out or break the rules. He didn't overcome racism. He called it out.
-
-
Excellent
- By Jeff Skrypek on 2017-12-07
Written by: Jonathan Eig
-
And There Was Light
- Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
- Written by: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Jon Meacham
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hated and hailed, excoriated and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions bound up with money, race, identity, and faith. In him we can see the possibilities of the presidency as well as its limitations. This book tells the story of Lincoln from his birth on the Kentucky frontier to his leadership during the Civil War to his tragic assassination: his rise, his self-education, his loves, his bouts of depression, his political failures, his deepening faith, and his persistent conviction that slavery must end.
-
-
Swimming in Genius
- By paul summerville on 2023-07-10
Written by: Jon Meacham
-
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- Written by: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
-
-
how could they leave off the epilogue?
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-02-21
Written by: Malcolm X, and others
-
Tunnel 29
- The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall
- Written by: Helena Merriman
- Narrated by: Helena Merriman
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1962, a young student named Joachim Rudolph dug a tunnel under the Berlin Wall. Waiting on the other side in East Berlin were dozens of men, women, and children - all willing to risk everything to escape.
-
-
Excellent
- By Roberta W on 2022-11-27
Written by: Helena Merriman
-
The Last Doctor
- Lessons in Living from the Front Lines of Medical Assistance in Dying
- Written by: Jean Marmoreo, Johanna Schneller
- Narrated by: Jean Marmoreo, Eve Crawford
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Jean Marmoreo spent her career keeping people alive. But when the Supreme Court of Canada gave the green light to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in 2016, she became one of a small group of doctors who chose to immediately train themselves in this new field. Over the course of a single year, Marmoreo learns about end-of-life practices in bustling Toronto hospitals, in hospices, and in the facilities of smaller communities. She found that the needed services were often minimal—or non-existent.
-
-
Engaging and thoughtful
- By Lori V on 2023-02-19
Written by: Jean Marmoreo, and others
-
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Written by: Clayborne Carson - editor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Narrated by: Levar Burton
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was a husband, a father, a preacher - and the preeminent leader of a movement that continues to transform America and the world.
-
-
insight into key events in MLK's life
- By Philip H on 2020-12-31
Written by: Clayborne Carson - editor, and others
-
G-Man (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
- J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century
- Written by: Beverly Gage
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 36 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A major new biography of J Edgar Hoover that draws from never-before-seen sources to create a groundbreaking portrait of a colossus who dominated half a century of American history and planted the seeds for much of today's conservative political landscape.
-
-
An epic tale of an American icon
- By David Zulkoskey on 2024-09-14
Written by: Beverly Gage
-
Long Walk to Freedom
- The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
- Written by: Nelson Mandela
- Narrated by: Michael Boatman
- Length: 27 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world.
-
-
An intriguing, captivating life of Mandela
- By Lorenzo RS on 2019-08-04
Written by: Nelson Mandela
-
Eat and Run
- My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness
- Written by: Scott Jurek, Steve Friedman
- Narrated by: Scott Jurek
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Eat and Run, Scott Jurek opens up about his life and career - as an elite athlete and a vegan - and inspires runners at every level. From his Midwestern childhood hunting, fishing, and cooking for his meat-and-potatoes family, to his early beginnings in running (he hated it), to his slow transition to ultrarunning and veganism, to his world-spanning, record-breaking races, Scott's story shows the power of an iron will and blows apart all the stereotypes of what athletes should eat to fuel optimal performance.
-
-
ultrarunning memoir and intriguing recipes
- By Amazon Customer on 2024-11-06
Written by: Scott Jurek, and others
-
American Prometheus
- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- Written by: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s.
-
-
Excellent book, poor sound editing
- By Pip on 2023-04-27
Written by: Kai Bird, and others
-
LeBron
- Written by: Jeff Benedict
- Narrated by: Chris Jackson
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of the twenty-first century, and he’s in the conversation with Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time. The reigning king of the game and the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, LeBron wears the crown like he was born with it. Yet his ascent has been anything but effortless and predetermined—the truth is vastly more interesting than that. LeBron tells the full, riveting saga of how a child adrift found the will to become a titan. Jeff Benedict paints a vivid picture of LeBron’s epic origin story, showing the gradual rise of a star.
-
-
For a 17+ hour book, I was expecting more
- By Marko Dj on 2023-06-26
Written by: Jeff Benedict
-
Collision of Power
- Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post
- Written by: Martin Baron
- Narrated by: Liev Schreiber
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marty Baron took charge of The Washington Post newsroom in 2013, after nearly a dozen years leading The Boston Globe. Just seven months into his new job, Baron received explosive news: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, would buy the Post, marking a sudden end to control by the venerated family that had presided over the paper for 80 years. Just over two years later, Donald Trump won the presidency.
-
-
Washington Post and print media in transition
- By CSUE on 2023-11-06
Written by: Martin Baron
-
Magic: The Life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson
- Written by: Roland Lazenby
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Roland Lazenby
- Length: 30 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive biography of the basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, from the highly respected, career sportswriter and author of Michael Jordan: The Life.
Written by: Roland Lazenby
-
An Ugly Truth
- Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination
- Written by: Sheera Frenkel, Cecilia Kang
- Narrated by: Sheera Frenkel, Cecilia Kang, Holter Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once one of Silicon Valley’s greatest success stories, Facebook has been under constant fire for the past five years, roiled by controversies and crises. It turns out that while the tech giant was connecting the world, they were also mishandling users’ data, spreading fake news, and amplifying dangerous, polarizing hate speech.
-
-
Revealing
- By Roberta W on 2024-05-18
Written by: Sheera Frenkel, and others
-
Poverty, by America
- Written by: Matthew Desmond
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
-
-
A Powerful Message
- By Jezel on 2023-07-01
Written by: Matthew Desmond
-
The Founders
- The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley
- Written by: Jimmy Soni
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today, PayPal’s founders and earliest employees are considered the technology industry’s most powerful network. Since leaving PayPal, they have formed, funded, and advised the leading companies of our era, including Tesla, Facebook, YouTube, SpaceX, Yelp, Palantir, and LinkedIn, among many others. As a group, they have driven 21st-century innovation and entrepreneurship. Their names stir passions; they’re as controversial as they are admired.
-
-
it's fine
- By Ono Northey on 2023-06-08
Written by: Jimmy Soni
-
The Country of the Blind
- A Memoir at the End of Sight
- Written by: Andrew Leland
- Narrated by: Andrew Leland
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We meet Andrew Leland as he’s suspended in the liminal state of the soon-to-be blind: he’s midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that ushers those who live with it from sightedness to blindness over years, even decades. He grew up with full vision, but starting in his teenage years, his sight began to degrade from the outside in. Soon— but without knowing exactly when—he will likely have no vision left. Full of apprehension but also dogged curiosity, Leland embarks on a sweeping exploration of the state of being that awaits him.
-
-
Thank you for being a voice!
- By Yvonne on 2024-07-16
Written by: Andrew Leland
What the critics say
2024 Plutarch Awards Nominee, Nominated
2024 PEN Literary Award - Finalist, Short-listed
2023, Time Magazine Best Books of the Year: Long-listed
2023, NPR Best Book of the Year: Long-listed
2023, BookPage Best Books of the Year: Long-listed
2023, Amazon.com Best Books of the Year: Long-listed
2023, Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year: Long-listed
2023, Washington Post Best Books of the Year: Long-listed
2023, Audible.com Best of the Year: Long-listed
2023, Library Journal Best Books of the Year: Long-listed
2024, Pulitzer Prize - Winner: Winner
2023, National Book Awards - Longlist: Long-listed
2023, National Book Critics Circle Award - Nominee: Short-listed
2023, Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year: Long-listed
2023, CPL: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Long-listed
2023, New Yorker Best Books of the Year: Long-listed
2023, Wall Street Journal Best Books of the Year: Long-listed
2023, Financial Times Books of the Year: Long-listed
2023, New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year: Long-listed
“Definitive . . . Monumental . . . An extraordinary achievement and an essential life of the iconic warrior for social justice.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[A] sweeping biography. Eig gives a rousing recap of King’s triumphs as a civil rights leader . . . [A] complex, nuanced portrait . . . Eig’s evocative prose ably conveys his bravery, charisma, and spell-binding oratory . . . An enthralling reappraisal that confirms King’s relevance to today’s debates over racial justice."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Eig’s monumental work, the first major biography of Martin Luther King Jr. in decades, challenges the image of him as a peaceful advocate of incremental change. There’s plenty of new detail, including from recently declassified F.B.I. files, allowing King to emerge as a complex, humane figure."—J. Howard Rosier, The New York Times
What listeners say about King: A Life
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RandomAccount007
- 2024-05-29
Incredible Work
I’ve never read a page turning biography like this. This is an amazing treatment of King’s life. We are made to understand him as a real man as opposed to a mythological saint.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CakeNerd
- 2023-08-31
Excellent
Comprehensive review of the life of a great and complicated man. Thorough examination of the man and the movement.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!