The Heavens Might Crack
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.
The Heavens Might Crack
Buy for $21.83
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Dan Woren
-
By:
-
Jason Sokol
About this listen
A vivid portrait of how Americans grappled with King's death and legacy in the days, weeks, and months after his assassination
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. At the time of his murder, King was a polarizing figure - scorned by many white Americans, worshipped by some African Americans and liberal whites, and deemed irrelevant by many black youth.
In The Heavens Might Crack, historian Jason Sokol traces the diverse responses, both in America and throughout the world, to King's death. Whether celebrating or mourning, most agreed that the final flicker of hope for a multiracial America had been extinguished.
A deeply moving account of a country coming to terms with an act of shocking violence, The Heavens Might Crack is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand America's fraught racial past and present.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2018 Jason Sokol (P)2018 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- By: Clayborne Carson - editor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Narrated by: Levar Burton
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,891
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,550
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,543
He was a husband, a father, a preacher - and the preeminent leader of a movement that continues to transform America and the world. Now, in a special program commissioned and authorized by his family, here is the life and times of Martin Luther King, Jr. Featuring King's I Have a Dream Speech.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Fascinating Slice of History
- By John-Mark Stensvaag on 08-05-03
By: Clayborne Carson - editor, and others
-
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
-
My Life, My Love, My Legacy
- By: Coretta Scott King, Barbara Reynolds
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, Phylicia Rashad
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 243
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 224
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 225
The life story of Coretta Scott King - wife of Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and singular 20th-century American civil rights activist - as told fully for the first time, toward the end of her life, to one of her closest friends. Born in 1927 to daringly enterprising Black parents in the Deep South, Coretta Scott had always felt called to a special purpose.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Inspirational memoir
- By Jean on 01-30-17
By: Coretta Scott King, and others
-
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
-
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
-
The Soul of America
- The Battle for Our Better Angels
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Jon Meacham
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,450
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,767
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,734
Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature” have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and LBJ, and illuminating the courage of influential citizen activists and civil rights pioneers, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. Each of these dramatic hours have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thanks! I needed this!
- By Kindle Customer on 05-29-18
By: Jon Meacham
-
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- By: Clayborne Carson - editor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Narrated by: Levar Burton
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,891
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,550
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,543
He was a husband, a father, a preacher - and the preeminent leader of a movement that continues to transform America and the world. Now, in a special program commissioned and authorized by his family, here is the life and times of Martin Luther King, Jr. Featuring King's I Have a Dream Speech.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Fascinating Slice of History
- By John-Mark Stensvaag on 08-05-03
By: Clayborne Carson - editor, and others
-
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
-
My Life, My Love, My Legacy
- By: Coretta Scott King, Barbara Reynolds
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, Phylicia Rashad
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 243
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 224
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 225
The life story of Coretta Scott King - wife of Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and singular 20th-century American civil rights activist - as told fully for the first time, toward the end of her life, to one of her closest friends. Born in 1927 to daringly enterprising Black parents in the Deep South, Coretta Scott had always felt called to a special purpose.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Inspirational memoir
- By Jean on 01-30-17
By: Coretta Scott King, and others
-
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
-
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
-
The Soul of America
- The Battle for Our Better Angels
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Jon Meacham
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,450
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,767
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,734
Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature” have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and LBJ, and illuminating the courage of influential citizen activists and civil rights pioneers, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. Each of these dramatic hours have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thanks! I needed this!
- By Kindle Customer on 05-29-18
By: Jon Meacham
-
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
-
Pillar of Fire
- America in the King Years, 1963-65
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Joe Morton, C.C.H. Pounder
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 77
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 more.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
the audio does not match with the book
- By Katie on 10-09-14
By: Taylor Branch
-
Walk with Me
- A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer
- By: Kate Clifford Larson
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 34
She was born the 20th child in a family that had lived in the Mississippi Delta for generations, first as enslaved people and then as sharecroppers. She left school at 12 to pick cotton, as those before her had done, in a world in which white supremacy was an unassailable citadel. She was subjected without her consent to an operation that deprived her of children. And she was denied the most basic of all rights in America—the right to cast a ballot—in a state in which Blacks constituted nearly half the population. And so Fannie Lou Hamer lifted up her voice.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing woman during very difficult times
- By Tenzin Dawa on 09-21-24
-
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
-
Playing with Fire
- The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics
- By: Lawrence O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Lawrence O'Donnell
- Length: 17 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,092
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 988
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 987
The 1968 US presidential election was the young Lawrence O'Donnell's political awakening, and in the decades since it has remained one of his abiding fascinations. For years he has deployed one of America's shrewdest political minds to understanding its dynamics, not just because it is fascinating in itself but because in it is contained the essence of what makes America different and how we got to where we are now.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant synthesis of history past and present
- By Dwight on 11-12-17
-
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
-
White Lies
- The Double Life of Walter F. White and America's Darkest Secret
- By: A.J. Baime
- Narrated by: Wayne Carr
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 119
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 105
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 107
Walter F. White led two lives: one as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance and the NAACP in the early twentieth century; the other as a white newspaperman who covered lynching crimes in the Deep South at the blazing height of racial violence. Born mixed race and with very fair skin and straight hair, White was able to “pass” for white. He leveraged this ambiguity as a reporter, bringing to light the darkest crimes in America and helping to plant the seeds of the civil rights movement.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A difficult but essential read
- By Heather Wellington on 05-21-22
By: A.J. Baime
-
Black Against Empire
- The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
- By: Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin Jr.
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 673
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 576
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 573
In Oakland, California, in 1966, community college students Bobby Seale and Huey Newton armed themselves, began patrolling the police, and promised to prevent police brutality. Unlike the Civil Rights Movement that called for full citizenship rights for blacks within the US, the Black Panther Party rejected the legitimacy of the US government and positioned itself as part of a global struggle against American imperialism.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
the explanation of rise and fall Black Panther
- By Antwine Hurst on 03-24-17
By: Joshua Bloom, and others
-
Stokely: A Life
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 127
Stokely Carmichael, the charismatic and controversial Black activist, stepped onto the pages of history when he called for "Black Power" during a speech one humid Mississippi night in 1966. Carmichael’s life changed that day, and so did America’s struggle for civil rights. "Black Power" became the slogan of an era, provoking a national reckoning on race and democracy. In Stokely, preeminent civil rights scholar Peniel E. Joseph presents a groundbreaking biography of Carmichael.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Black Power icon
- By Adam Shields on 07-20-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
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
-
Death of a King
- The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Final Year
- By: Tavis Smiley, David Ritz
- Narrated by: Tavis Smiley
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 300
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 253
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 256
New York Times best-selling author and award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley recounts the final 365 days of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life, revealing the minister's trials and tribulations - denunciations by the press, rejection from the president, dismissal by the country's Black middle class and militants, assaults on his character, ideology, and political tactics, to name a few - all of which he had to rise above in order to lead and address the racism, poverty, and militarism that threatened to destroy our democracy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An important book
- By Mr X on 02-19-15
By: Tavis Smiley, and others
-
They Had a Dream
- The Civil Rights Struggle from Frederick Douglass to Marcus Garvey to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
- By: Jules Archer
- Narrated by: Roscoe Orman
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 37
Traces the progression of the civil rights movement and its effect on history through biographical sketches of four prominent and influential African Americans: Frederick Douglass, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book
- By Deja on 05-20-20
By: Jules Archer
Critic reviews
"Jason Sokol has done it again!... In vivid prose rooted in deep, wide-ranging research, The Heavens Might Crack is an indispensable read for all who would comprehend the past and care for our future." (Harvard Sitkoff, emeritus professor of history, University of New Hampshire)
"Jason Sokol details with aching clarity how King's assassination and the urban uprisings of April 1968 sent shock waves across the landscapes of America's racial crisis and the world's revolts.... The heavens might have cracked, but Sokol's not-too-distant mirror shimmers with intensity and the recognition of King's continued relevance to our own travails." (Thomas F. Jackson, associate professor of history, University of North Carolina)
"Coming at a moment when an open racist occupies the highest office in the land and white terrorists proudly march in our streets, Sokol's book helps us understand how we got here, and how the forces of hatred and bigotry that ended King's life were never fully extinguished but remain very much with us today. A must read." (Andrew W. Kahrl, author of Free the Beaches: The Story of Ned Coll and the Battle for America's Most Exclusive Shoreline)
Related to this topic
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Death of a King
- The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Final Year
- By: Tavis Smiley, David Ritz
- Narrated by: Tavis Smiley
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 300
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 253
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 256
New York Times best-selling author and award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley recounts the final 365 days of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life, revealing the minister's trials and tribulations - denunciations by the press, rejection from the president, dismissal by the country's Black middle class and militants, assaults on his character, ideology, and political tactics, to name a few - all of which he had to rise above in order to lead and address the racism, poverty, and militarism that threatened to destroy our democracy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An important book
- By Mr X on 02-19-15
By: Tavis Smiley, 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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Death of a King
- The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Final Year
- By: Tavis Smiley, David Ritz
- Narrated by: Tavis Smiley
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 300
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 253
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 256
New York Times best-selling author and award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley recounts the final 365 days of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life, revealing the minister's trials and tribulations - denunciations by the press, rejection from the president, dismissal by the country's Black middle class and militants, assaults on his character, ideology, and political tactics, to name a few - all of which he had to rise above in order to lead and address the racism, poverty, and militarism that threatened to destroy our democracy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An important book
- By Mr X on 02-19-15
By: Tavis Smiley, 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
-
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
-
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
-
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 Soul of America
- The Battle for Our Better Angels
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Jon Meacham
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,450
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,767
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,734
Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature” have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and LBJ, and illuminating the courage of influential citizen activists and civil rights pioneers, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. Each of these dramatic hours have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thanks! I needed this!
- By Kindle Customer on 05-29-18
By: Jon Meacham
-
Black Against Empire
- The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
- By: Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin Jr.
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 673
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 576
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 573
In Oakland, California, in 1966, community college students Bobby Seale and Huey Newton armed themselves, began patrolling the police, and promised to prevent police brutality. Unlike the Civil Rights Movement that called for full citizenship rights for blacks within the US, the Black Panther Party rejected the legitimacy of the US government and positioned itself as part of a global struggle against American imperialism.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
the explanation of rise and fall Black Panther
- By Antwine Hurst on 03-24-17
By: Joshua Bloom, and others
-
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
-
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
-
Undelivered
- The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History
- By: Jeff Nussbaum
- Narrated by: Adam Gifford, Brian Bowles, Elisa Roth, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 63
A fascinating insight into notable speeches that were never delivered, showing what could have been if history had gone down a different path. For almost every delivered speech, there exists an undelivered opposite. These "second speeches" provide alternative histories of what could have been if not for schedule changes, changes of heart, or momentous turns of events.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Recognize that this is a profoundly partisan book
- By Scott on 11-05-23
By: Jeff Nussbaum
-
My Life, My Love, My Legacy
- By: Coretta Scott King, Barbara Reynolds
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, Phylicia Rashad
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 243
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 224
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 225
The life story of Coretta Scott King - wife of Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and singular 20th-century American civil rights activist - as told fully for the first time, toward the end of her life, to one of her closest friends. Born in 1927 to daringly enterprising Black parents in the Deep South, Coretta Scott had always felt called to a special purpose.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Inspirational memoir
- By Jean on 01-30-17
By: Coretta Scott King, and others
-
Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour
- A Narrative History of Black Power in America
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Beresford Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
An acclaimed chronicler of the Civil Rights Movement, Peniel Joseph presents this sweeping overview of a key component of the struggle for racial equality: the Black Power movement. This is the story of the men and women who sacrificed so much to begin a more vocal and radical push for social change in the 1960s and 1970s.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Decent Introduction, not thorough at all
- By Grover on 07-29-14
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
1920
- The Year of Six Presidents
- By: David Pietrusza
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 243
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 201
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 204
The presidential election of 1920 was among history's most dramatic. Six once-and-future presidents--Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt--jockeyed for the White House. With voters choosing between Wilson's League of Nations and Harding's front-porch isolationism, the 1920 election shaped modern America.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A fascinating view into the US at the end of WWI
- By D. Littman on 12-31-09
By: David Pietrusza
-
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
-
White Flight
- Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism
- By: Kevin M. Kruse
- Narrated by: Aaron Williamson
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 137
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 120
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 120
In this reappraisal of racial politics in modern America, Kevin Kruse explains the causes and consequences of "white flight" in Atlanta and elsewhere. Seeking to understand segregationists on their own terms, White Flight moves past simple stereotypes to explore the meaning of white resistance. In the end, Kruse finds that segregationist resistance, which failed to stop the civil rights movement, nevertheless managed to preserve the world of segregation and even perfect it in subtler and stronger forms.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Local history is important
- By Adam Shields on 10-02-19
By: Kevin M. Kruse
What listeners say about The Heavens Might Crack
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
- Matt
- 04-06-23
A wonderful book about Kingys death and legqcy
loved this historically account of Kings death, legacy, and the forgotten parts of his life that have been ignored by millions of Americans. Try a must read book for anyone who cares about King or America's history
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!