Pillar of Fire
America in the King Years, 1963-65
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pillar of Fire
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Joe Morton
-
C.C.H. Pounder
-
By:
-
Taylor Branch
About this listen
From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch, the second part of his epic trilogy on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the second volume of his three-part history, a monumental trilogy that began with Parting the Waters, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Taylor Branch portrays the Civil Rights Movement at its zenith, recounting the climactic struggles as they commanded the national stage.
Beginning with the Nation of Islam and conflict over racial separatism, Pillar of Fire takes the listener to Mississippi and Alabama: Birmingham, the murder of Medgar Evers, the "March on Washington," the Civil Rights Act, and voter registration drives. In 1964, King is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Branch's magnificent trilogy makes clear why the Civil Rights Movement, and indeed King's leadership, are among the nation's enduring achievements. In bringing these decades alive, preserving the integrity of those who marched and died, Branch gives us a crucial part of our history and heritage.
Pillar of Fire is the second volume in Taylor Branch's three-volume history, America in the King Years. Don't miss Parting the Waters or At Canaan's Edge.©1998 Taylor Branch, All Rights Reserved (P)1998 Simon & Schuster Inc., All Rights Reserved, AUDIOWORKS is an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
At Canaan's Edge
- America in the King Years 1965-68
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon, Janina Edwards
- Length: 34 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
The final volume of Taylor Branch's monumental, much honored, and definitive history of the Civil Rights Movement (America in the King Years), At Canaan's Edge covers the final years of King's struggle to hold his non-violent movement together in the face of factionalism within the Movement, hostility and harassment of the Johnson Administration, the country torn apart by Vietnam, and his own attempt (and failure) to take the Freedom Movement north.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great King bio and an engaging take on an era
- By R.S. on 05-29-23
By: Taylor Branch
-
Parting the Waters
- America in the King Years 1954-63
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi, Janina Edwards
- Length: 45 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 170
Hailed as the most masterful story ever told of the American civil rights movement, Parting the Waters is destined to endure for generations. Moving from the fiery political baptism of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the corridors of Camelot where the Kennedy brothers weighed demands for justice against the deceptions of J. Edgar Hoover, here is a vivid tapestry of America, torn and finally transformed by a revolutionary struggle unequaled since the Civil War.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By Judith Princz on 05-15-19
By: Taylor Branch
-
The King Years
- Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Leslie Odom Jr.
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
The essential moments of the civil rights movement are introduced and set in historical context by the author of the magisterial America in the King Years trilogy: Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire, and At Canaan's Edge. Taylor Branch's three-volume history endures as a masterpiece of storytelling on American race, violence, and democracy. With this brief volume, which brings to life the pivotal scenes, he relates the dramatic story of how the movement evolved from a bus strike to a political revolution, and brings this historic achievement to a wider audience.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By MC on 01-18-15
By: Taylor Branch
-
Bearing the Cross
- Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
- By: David J. Garrow
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 34 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 211
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 160
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 161
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. David J. Garrow had unrestricted access to Martin Luther King's personal papers, to thousands of pages of newly released FBI documents and more than 700 interviews with King's closest friends and enemies.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
great but long
- By Thomas on 04-29-10
By: David J. Garrow
-
King: A Life
- By: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 643
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 550
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 549
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My Time
- By Susan on 06-18-23
By: Jonathan Eig
-
Democracy Awakening
- Notes on the State of America
- By: Heather Cox Richardson
- Narrated by: Heather Cox Richardson
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,051
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 954
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 954
At a time when the very foundations of American democracy seem under threat, the lessons of the past offer a road map for navigating a moment of political crisis. In Democracy Awakening, acclaimed historian Heather Cox Richardson delves into the tumultuous journey of American democracy, tracing the roots of Donald Trump’s “authoritarian experiment” to the earliest days of the republic.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
We’d be in a much better position if everyone read this
- By Jeffrey Schwartz on 10-01-23
-
At Canaan's Edge
- America in the King Years 1965-68
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon, Janina Edwards
- Length: 34 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
The final volume of Taylor Branch's monumental, much honored, and definitive history of the Civil Rights Movement (America in the King Years), At Canaan's Edge covers the final years of King's struggle to hold his non-violent movement together in the face of factionalism within the Movement, hostility and harassment of the Johnson Administration, the country torn apart by Vietnam, and his own attempt (and failure) to take the Freedom Movement north.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great King bio and an engaging take on an era
- By R.S. on 05-29-23
By: Taylor Branch
-
Parting the Waters
- America in the King Years 1954-63
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi, Janina Edwards
- Length: 45 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 170
Hailed as the most masterful story ever told of the American civil rights movement, Parting the Waters is destined to endure for generations. Moving from the fiery political baptism of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the corridors of Camelot where the Kennedy brothers weighed demands for justice against the deceptions of J. Edgar Hoover, here is a vivid tapestry of America, torn and finally transformed by a revolutionary struggle unequaled since the Civil War.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By Judith Princz on 05-15-19
By: Taylor Branch
-
The King Years
- Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Leslie Odom Jr.
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
The essential moments of the civil rights movement are introduced and set in historical context by the author of the magisterial America in the King Years trilogy: Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire, and At Canaan's Edge. Taylor Branch's three-volume history endures as a masterpiece of storytelling on American race, violence, and democracy. With this brief volume, which brings to life the pivotal scenes, he relates the dramatic story of how the movement evolved from a bus strike to a political revolution, and brings this historic achievement to a wider audience.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By MC on 01-18-15
By: Taylor Branch
-
Bearing the Cross
- Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
- By: David J. Garrow
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 34 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 211
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 160
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 161
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. David J. Garrow had unrestricted access to Martin Luther King's personal papers, to thousands of pages of newly released FBI documents and more than 700 interviews with King's closest friends and enemies.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
great but long
- By Thomas on 04-29-10
By: David J. Garrow
-
King: A Life
- By: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 643
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 550
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 549
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My Time
- By Susan on 06-18-23
By: Jonathan Eig
-
Democracy Awakening
- Notes on the State of America
- By: Heather Cox Richardson
- Narrated by: Heather Cox Richardson
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,051
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 954
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 954
At a time when the very foundations of American democracy seem under threat, the lessons of the past offer a road map for navigating a moment of political crisis. In Democracy Awakening, acclaimed historian Heather Cox Richardson delves into the tumultuous journey of American democracy, tracing the roots of Donald Trump’s “authoritarian experiment” to the earliest days of the republic.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
We’d be in a much better position if everyone read this
- By Jeffrey Schwartz on 10-01-23
-
Before the Storm
- Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus
- By: Rick Perlstein
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 28 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 540
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 474
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 467
Acclaimed historian Rick Perlstein chronicles the rise of the conservative movement in the liberal 1960s. At the heart of the story is Barry Goldwater, the renegade Republican from Arizona who loathed federal government, despised liberals, and mocked "peaceful coexistence" with the USSR. Perlstein's narrative shines a light on a whole world of conservatives and their antagonists, including William F. Buckley, Nelson Rockefeller, and Bill Moyers. Vividly written, Before the Storm is an essential book about the 1960s.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Ok for Conservatives
- By Chris Corsini on 07-15-19
By: Rick Perlstein
-
The Path to Power
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 40 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,634
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,227
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,217
This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country. The Path to Power reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and ambition that set LBJ apart. It follows him from the Hill Country to New Deal Washington, from his boyhood through the years of the Depression to his debut as Congressman, his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, at age 31, of the national power for which he hungered.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Best of all Biographies
- By David C. Daggett on 12-14-13
By: Robert A. Caro
-
Reconstruction
- America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877
- By: Eric Foner
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 30 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 440
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 387
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 381
The period following the Civil War was one of the most controversial eras in American history. This comprehensive account of the period captures the drama of those turbulent years that played such an important role in shaping modern America.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Outdated edition!!
- By Bruce on 11-02-17
By: Eric Foner
-
The Power Broker
- Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 66 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 4,438
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,892
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,896
Robert Caro's monumental book makes public what few outsiders knew: that Robert Moses was the single most powerful man of his time in the City and in the State of New York. And in telling the Moses story, Caro both opens up to an unprecedented degree the way in which politics really happens—the way things really get done in America's City Halls and Statehouses—and brings to light a bonanza of vital information about such national figures as Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt (and the genesis of their blood feud), about Fiorello La Guardia, John V. Lindsay and Nelson Rockefeller.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
AMAZING read
- By jeff on 09-15-11
By: Robert A. Caro
-
And There Was Light
- Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Jon Meacham
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,426
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,140
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,131
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Winner
- By Diane Moore on 10-31-22
By: Jon Meacham
-
G-Man (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
- J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century
- By: Beverly Gage
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 36 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 602
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 512
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 512
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing!
- By Jessica Armas on 12-06-22
By: Beverly Gage
-
The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,296
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,098
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,093
The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
-
Nixonland
- The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
- By: Rick Perlstein
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 36 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,468
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,131
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,136
From one of America's most talented historians and winner of a LA Times Book Prize comes a brilliant new account of Richard Nixon that reveals the riveting backstory to the red state/blue state resentments that divide our nation today. Told with urgency and sharp political insight, Nixonland recaptures America's turbulent 1960s and early 1970s and reveals how Richard Nixon rose from the political grave to seize and hold the presidency.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A 5-Star Book Injured by the Narrator
- By Frank on 08-12-09
By: Rick Perlstein
-
Gotham
- A History of New York City to 1898
- By: Edwin G. Burrows, Mike Wallace
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 67 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 270
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 225
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 225
In Gotham, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace have produced a monumental work of history, one that ranges from the Indian tribes that settled in and around the island of Manna-hata, to the consolidation of the five boroughs into Greater New York in 1898. It is an epic narrative, a story as vast and as varied as the city it chronicles, and it underscores that the history of New York is the story of our nation. The events and people who crowd this audiobook guarantee that this is no mere local history. It is in fact a portrait of the heart and soul of America....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
THANK YOU!!!!!
- By Stephen F (SPFJR) on 09-29-18
By: Edwin G. Burrows, and others
-
Frederick Douglass
- Prophet of Freedom
- By: David W. Blight
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 36 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,528
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,259
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,246
As a young man, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. He wrote three versions of his autobiography over the course of his lifetime and published his own newspaper. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence, he bore witness to the brutality of slavery.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The sound of rollerskating in sand
- By Rico X Ludovici on 02-06-19
By: David W. Blight
-
Punished for Dreaming
- How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal
- By: Bettina L. Love
- Narrated by: Bettina L. Love, Karen Chilton
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 39
In Punished for Dreaming Dr. Bettina Love argues forcefully that Reagan’s presidency ushered in a War on Black Children, pathologizing and penalizing them in concert with the War on Drugs. New policies punished schools with policing, closure, and loss of funding in the name of reform, as white savior, egalitarian efforts increasingly allowed private interests to infiltrate the system. These changes implicated children of color, and Black children in particular, as low performing, making it all too easy to turn a blind eye to their disproportionate conviction and incarceration.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wow!!!
- By TKL on 10-20-23
By: Bettina L. Love
-
The Best and the Brightest
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 37 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,074
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 930
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 926
Using portraits of America’s flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces that drove them, The Best and the Brightest reckons magnificently with the most important abiding question of our country’s recent history: Why did America become mired in Vietnam, and why did we lose? As the definitive single-volume answer to that question, this enthralling book has never been superseded. It is an American classic.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Preparation for Ken Burns
- By Chiefkent on 06-12-17
By: David Halberstam
Related to this topic
-
At Canaan's Edge
- America in the King Years 1965-68
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 145
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 100
At Canaan's Edge concludes America in the King Years, a three-volume history that will endure as a masterpiece of storytelling on American race, violence, and democracy. Pulitzer Prize-winner and best-selling author Taylor Branch makes clear in this magisterial account of the civil rights movement that Martin Luther King, Jr., earned a place next to James Madison and Abraham Lincoln in the pantheon of American history.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I hate abridged books
- By Four Bears on 10-19-10
By: Taylor Branch
-
Parting the Waters
- America in the King Years 1954-63
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi, Janina Edwards
- Length: 45 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 170
Hailed as the most masterful story ever told of the American civil rights movement, Parting the Waters is destined to endure for generations. Moving from the fiery political baptism of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the corridors of Camelot where the Kennedy brothers weighed demands for justice against the deceptions of J. Edgar Hoover, here is a vivid tapestry of America, torn and finally transformed by a revolutionary struggle unequaled since the Civil War.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By Judith Princz on 05-15-19
By: Taylor Branch
-
Kennedy and King
- The President, the Pastor, and the Battle over Civil Rights
- By: Steven Levingston
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 19 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 73
A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick. Kennedy and King traces the emergence of two of the 20th century's greatest leaders, their powerful impact on each other, and on the shape of the civil rights battle between 1960 and 1963. These two men from starkly different worlds profoundly influenced each other's personal development. Kennedy's hesitation on civil rights spurred King to greater acts of courage, and King inspired Kennedy to finally make a moral commitment to equality.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Voices Too Much
- By drewdpeabody on 10-17-17
-
Nixonland
- The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
- By: Rick Perlstein
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 36 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,468
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,131
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,136
From one of America's most talented historians and winner of a LA Times Book Prize comes a brilliant new account of Richard Nixon that reveals the riveting backstory to the red state/blue state resentments that divide our nation today. Told with urgency and sharp political insight, Nixonland recaptures America's turbulent 1960s and early 1970s and reveals how Richard Nixon rose from the political grave to seize and hold the presidency.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A 5-Star Book Injured by the Narrator
- By Frank on 08-12-09
By: Rick Perlstein
-
Freedom Riders
- 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice: Oxford University Press: Pivotal Moments in US History
- By: Raymond Arsenault
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
The saga of the Freedom Riders is an improbable, almost unbelievable story. In the course of six months in 1961, 450 Freedom Riders expanded the realm of the possible in American politics, redefining the limits of dissent and setting the stage for the civil rights movement. In this new version of his encyclopedic Freedom Riders, Raymond Arsenault offers a significantly condensed and tautly written account.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
excellent book
- By test on 05-05-11
-
Eyes on the Prize
- America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965
- By: Juan Williams, Julian Bond - introduction
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 39
From leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., to lesser-known figures such as Barbara Rose Johns and Jim Zwerg, each man and woman made the decision that something had to be done to stop discrimination. These moving accounts of the first decade of the civil rights movement are a tribute to the people, black and white, who took part in the fight for justice and the struggle they endured.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is a must in every household.
- By victor mercer on 07-12-19
By: Juan Williams, and others
-
At Canaan's Edge
- America in the King Years 1965-68
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 145
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 100
At Canaan's Edge concludes America in the King Years, a three-volume history that will endure as a masterpiece of storytelling on American race, violence, and democracy. Pulitzer Prize-winner and best-selling author Taylor Branch makes clear in this magisterial account of the civil rights movement that Martin Luther King, Jr., earned a place next to James Madison and Abraham Lincoln in the pantheon of American history.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I hate abridged books
- By Four Bears on 10-19-10
By: Taylor Branch
-
Parting the Waters
- America in the King Years 1954-63
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi, Janina Edwards
- Length: 45 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 170
Hailed as the most masterful story ever told of the American civil rights movement, Parting the Waters is destined to endure for generations. Moving from the fiery political baptism of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the corridors of Camelot where the Kennedy brothers weighed demands for justice against the deceptions of J. Edgar Hoover, here is a vivid tapestry of America, torn and finally transformed by a revolutionary struggle unequaled since the Civil War.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By Judith Princz on 05-15-19
By: Taylor Branch
-
Kennedy and King
- The President, the Pastor, and the Battle over Civil Rights
- By: Steven Levingston
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 19 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 73
A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick. Kennedy and King traces the emergence of two of the 20th century's greatest leaders, their powerful impact on each other, and on the shape of the civil rights battle between 1960 and 1963. These two men from starkly different worlds profoundly influenced each other's personal development. Kennedy's hesitation on civil rights spurred King to greater acts of courage, and King inspired Kennedy to finally make a moral commitment to equality.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Voices Too Much
- By drewdpeabody on 10-17-17
-
Nixonland
- The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
- By: Rick Perlstein
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 36 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,468
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,131
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,136
From one of America's most talented historians and winner of a LA Times Book Prize comes a brilliant new account of Richard Nixon that reveals the riveting backstory to the red state/blue state resentments that divide our nation today. Told with urgency and sharp political insight, Nixonland recaptures America's turbulent 1960s and early 1970s and reveals how Richard Nixon rose from the political grave to seize and hold the presidency.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A 5-Star Book Injured by the Narrator
- By Frank on 08-12-09
By: Rick Perlstein
-
Freedom Riders
- 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice: Oxford University Press: Pivotal Moments in US History
- By: Raymond Arsenault
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
The saga of the Freedom Riders is an improbable, almost unbelievable story. In the course of six months in 1961, 450 Freedom Riders expanded the realm of the possible in American politics, redefining the limits of dissent and setting the stage for the civil rights movement. In this new version of his encyclopedic Freedom Riders, Raymond Arsenault offers a significantly condensed and tautly written account.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
excellent book
- By test on 05-05-11
-
Eyes on the Prize
- America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965
- By: Juan Williams, Julian Bond - introduction
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 39
From leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., to lesser-known figures such as Barbara Rose Johns and Jim Zwerg, each man and woman made the decision that something had to be done to stop discrimination. These moving accounts of the first decade of the civil rights movement are a tribute to the people, black and white, who took part in the fight for justice and the struggle they endured.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is a must in every household.
- By victor mercer on 07-12-19
By: Juan Williams, and others
-
The Race Beat
- The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation
- By: Gene Roberts, Hank Klibanoff
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 21 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 122
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 121
Drawing on private correspondence, notes from secret meetings, unpublished articles, and interviews, veteran journalists Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff go behind the headlines and datelines to show how a dedicated cadre of newsmen - first black reporters, then liberal Southern editors, then reporters and photographers from the national press and the broadcast media - revealed to a nation its most shameful shortcomings and propelled its citizens to act.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A fascinating inside look at history
- By Ron on 09-22-09
By: Gene Roberts, and others
-
The Defender
- How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America; from the Age of the Pullman Porters to the Age of Obama
- By: Ethan Michaeli
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 22 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Giving voice to the voiceless, the Chicago Defender condemned Jim Crow, catalyzed the Great Migration, and focused the electoral power of black America. Robert S. Abbott founded the Defender in 1905, smuggled hundreds of thousands of copies into the most isolated communities in the segregated South, and was dubbed a "Modern Moses", becoming one of the first black millionaires in the process.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
There's an unexpected genius here
- By Porter on 01-19-19
By: Ethan Michaeli
-
Bearing the Cross
- Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
- By: David J. Garrow
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 34 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 211
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 160
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 161
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. David J. Garrow had unrestricted access to Martin Luther King's personal papers, to thousands of pages of newly released FBI documents and more than 700 interviews with King's closest friends and enemies.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
great but long
- By Thomas on 04-29-10
By: David J. Garrow
-
Bobby Kennedy
- The Making of a Liberal Icon
- By: Larry Tye
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 407
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 354
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 349
History remembers Robert F. Kennedy as a racial healer, a tribune for the poor, and the last progressive knight of a bygone era of American politics. But Kennedy's enshrinement in the liberal pantheon was actually the final stage of a journey that had its beginnings in the conservative 1950s. In Bobby Kennedy, Larry Tye peels away layers of myth and misconception to paint a complete portrait of this singularly fascinating figure.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Absorbing
- By Jean on 01-18-17
By: Larry Tye
-
Malcolm X
- A Life of Reinvention
- By: Manning Marable
- Narrated by: G. Valmont Thomas
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,413
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,189
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,189
Of the great figure in 20th-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age 39. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
invites further reading on Malcolm X
- By connie on 05-14-11
By: Manning Marable
-
The Glory and the Dream
- A Narrative History of America, 1932 - 1972
- By: William Manchester
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 57 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 451
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 350
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 350
This great time capsule of a book captures the abundant popular history of the United States from 1932 to 1972. It encompasses politics, military history, economics, the lively arts, science, fashion, fads, social change, sexual mores, communications, graffiti...everything and anything indigenous that can be captured in print.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Fabulous book, good narration, bad recording
- By Paula on 07-10-08
-
City of Scoundrels
- The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 139
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 116
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 115
When 1919 began, the city of Chicago seemed on the verge of transformation. Modernizers had an audacious, expensive plan to turn the city from a brawling, unglamorous place into "the Metropolis of the World". But just as the dream seemed within reach, pandemonium broke loose and the city’s highest ambitions were suddenly under attack by the same unbridled energies that had given birth to them in the first place.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great History of a Great City
- By Cookie on 08-30-12
By: Gary Krist
-
The Greatest Comeback
- How Richard Nixon Rose from Defeat to Create the New Majority
- By: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 79
After suffering stinging defeats in the 1960 presidential election against John F. Kennedy, and in the 1962 California gubernatorial election, Nixon's career was declared dead by Washington press and politicians alike. Yet on January 20, 1969, just six years after he had said his political life was over, Nixon would stand taking the oath of office as 37th President of the United States. How did Richard Nixon resurrect a ruined career and reunite a shattered and fractured Republican Party to capture the White House?
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The comeback kid
- By Jean on 07-23-14
-
Nixon's White House Wars
- The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever
- By: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 111
From Vietnam to the Southern Strategy, from the opening of China to the scandal of Watergate, Pat Buchanan - speechwriter and senior adviser to President Nixon - tells the untold story of Nixon's embattled White House, from its historic wins to it devastating defeats. In his inaugural address, Nixon held out a hand in friendship to Republicans and Democrats alike. But by the fall of 1969, massive demonstrations in Washington and around the country had been mounted to break his presidency.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting
- By Jean on 06-15-17
-
Waging a Good War
- A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968
- By: Thomas E. Ricks
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 51
Thomas E. Ricks offers an utterly new perspective on America’s greatest moral revolution—the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s—and its legacy today. While the Movement has become synonymous with Martin Luther King Jr.’s ethos of nonviolence, Ricks draws on his deep knowledge of tactics and strategy to advance a surprising but revelatory idea: the greatest victories for Black Americans of the past century were won not by idealism alone, but through recruiting, training, discipline, and organization—the hallmarks of any successful military campaign.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I was born and raised in Alabama. Jim Crow Era.
- By Moses Pitts on 10-06-22
By: Thomas E. Ricks
-
Dallas 1963
- By: Bill Minutaglio, Steven L. Davis
- Narrated by: Bill Minutaglio, Tony Messano, Steven L. Davis
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
In the months and weeks before the fateful November 22nd, 1963, Dallas was brewing with political passions, a city crammed with larger-than-life characters dead-set against the Kennedy presidency. These included rabid warriors like defrocked military general Edwin A. Walker; the world's richest oil baron, H. L. Hunt; the leader of the largest Baptist congregation in the world, W.A. Criswell; and the media mogul Ted Dealey, who raucously confronted JFK and whose family name adorns the plaza where the president was murdered.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
American lunacy, listenable as it gets
- By Philo on 10-14-17
By: Bill Minutaglio, and others
-
The Gay Revolution
- The Story of the Struggle
- By: Lillian Faderman
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 29 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 206
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 187
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 188
The Gay Revolution begins in the 1950s, when law classified gays and lesbians as criminals, the psychiatric profession saw them as mentally ill, the churches saw them as sinners, and society victimized them with irrational hatred. Against this dark backdrop, a few brave people began to fight back, paving the way for the revolutionary changes of the 1960s and beyond.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An outstanding book.
- By David Farley on 10-21-15
By: Lillian Faderman
What listeners say about Pillar of Fire
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Antwine Hurst
- 06-05-17
powerful
when u listen to these detailed accounts from decades past..u realize we haven't made much ground in this country
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Richard
- 03-11-15
A moving story that needs to be heard.
I enjoyed this story very much. Much to pass on to my students. They need to know. Looking forward to the third book of the trilogy. joe Morton and CCH Pounder were magnificent readers. Their voices carried the pathos and the triumphs. Amazing!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- Katie
- 10-09-14
the audio does not match with the book
What disappointed you about Pillar of Fire?
The audio did not match the book, it was completely different
Would you ever listen to anything by Taylor Branch again?
yes
What three words best describe Joe Morton and C.C.H. Pounder ’s performance?
Did very good.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
I liked the information that it gave but it did not match up to the actual book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful