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marcela1016's review against another edition
3.0
an exhaustive but sometimes exhausting day by day recounting of the last two years of King's life. I was disappointed the book ended at the assassination and had zero reflection or analysis of the aftermath except for a brief epilogue.
cisko's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating, attentive, and vivid, Canaan’s Edge is the third masterful entry in Branch’s trilogy on Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. It lives up to the first two volume, but the scope — covering 1965-68 — is difficult and foreboding. The movement searches for direction after Selma, while the rising menace of the Vietnam War draws away money, attention, and energy. Branch draws parallels between the political travails of Lyndon Johnson and the movement struggle of MLK and the SCLC, facing increasing pressures from both weary moderates and militant Black Power factions, frustrated with nonviolence and itching for a fight. Even as the impending doom of Memphis looms, inertial pressures and movement fatigue seem as great a tragedy.
But while the tone of the book is gloomy and weary, the material is fascinating, and it’s clearly an important book for understanding not only MLK’s life’s work, but also the struggles and challenges in attempting to change American society. My only regret is that Branch stops so suddenly with MLK’s death, bringing the story to a close on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, but I understand why he chooses to leave the aftermath to other projects. An epic conclusion to a monumental biography, crucial for understanding how we got where we are, and what we face in trying to change it.
But while the tone of the book is gloomy and weary, the material is fascinating, and it’s clearly an important book for understanding not only MLK’s life’s work, but also the struggles and challenges in attempting to change American society. My only regret is that Branch stops so suddenly with MLK’s death, bringing the story to a close on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, but I understand why he chooses to leave the aftermath to other projects. An epic conclusion to a monumental biography, crucial for understanding how we got where we are, and what we face in trying to change it.
alisonrose711's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely magnificent - the level of detail and thoroughness is just amazing, and no matter how much you think you know about MLK or the civil rights movement, or the Vietnam war, or the FBI...you will definitely learn enough to make you feel as though you knew next to nothing. Phenomenal achievement, and most certainly worth your time to read the whole trilogy.
spoko's review against another edition
3.0
I find Branch's style too terse; the really significant moments in his narrative almost seem to get less attention than the trivial. It's an important history, and worth such a full retelling. But honestly, you'll appreciate this book more if you're already familiar with the basic contours of the story.
dansbooks's review against another edition
4.0
The final and probably the best of Branch's King years trilogy, this is also the hardest to read. That's not because it's not excellently written and presented, but because it covers such an ultimately tragic and demoralizing period. Essentially, it tells the story of the unraveling of the forces that succeeded in winning the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, poignantly placing side by side the strains affecting King and the movement along with Lyndon Johnson's demise due to Vietnam.
scherzo's review against another edition
5.0
"...said King, 'A Hundred political commentators* interred nonviolence into a premature grave'"
*not to mention J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI
*not to mention J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI
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