I have always felt a strong connection to Dr. Martin Luther King. I was born and raised in Memphis (the same year as Hampton Sides) and vividly remember the annual marches there honoring Dr. King. My family has always been active in progressive politics - which requires commitment in the conservative Southeast. I lived in Atlanta for five years and my son and I made a point of making an annual trek to the King Center. It is a place of great beauty and poignancy - the remains of what was once Sweet Auburn decaying all around it like a bomb went off and everyone couldn't wait to forget.

This is a wonderful book of popular history that manages to be a page-turner even though you already know the outcome. Sides provides a detailed almost moment-by-moment account of the stalking of Dr. King, of his assassination, and of the ultimately successful manhunt for his killer. It is ironic that Hoover's FBI was successful in tracking down James Earl Ray due in part to innovations introduced by J. Edgar Hoover who famously detested Dr. King; forensic innovations plus over 3,000 agents will net you a killer, especially if he was stupid enough to throw the gun away near the scene along with his laundry bearing unique laundry markers.

This is a reminder of a sad and terrible time in our nation's history and of the tragedy of a man who rose to the occasion with grace and dignity only to be shot down in a senseless act of violence by a prison escapee with a $50 bounty on his head. We should never forget the sacrifices of those who came before us and who made it possible for us to have the opportunities we all share.