'Supple, penetrating, heartstring-pulling and compulsively readable ... The first comprehensive biography of King in three decades… and it supplants David J. Garrow’s 1986 biography Bearing the Cross as the definitive life of King ... [Eig’s is] a clean, clear, journalistic voice, one that employs facts the way Saul Bellow said they should be employed, each a wire that sends a current ... Eig’s book is worthy of its subject'

– The New York Times

'A sober and intimate portrait of King’s short life, and one that can’t help but be admiring, given how much King accomplished, and how quickly he did so ... Eig captures the ferocity of the forces that opposed King'

– The New Yorker

'Jonathan Eig’s magnificent new biography is an overdue attempt to grapple with King in all his complexity ... Eig makes [King's] courage and moral vision seem all the more exceptional for having come from a man with ordinary flaws'

– The Economist

'[A] landmark work of scholarship ... It’s the fullness of this portrait, rich in contradictions, that makes King: A Life the definitive biography of a legendary leader'

– Esquire

'King: A Life might be described as a deeply reported psychobiography... infused with the narrative energy of a thriller ... Eig does a particularly nuanced job of conjuring up the mind-set of Coretta Scott King in the years before she emerged as a forceful activist in her own right ... The most compelling account of King’s life in a generation'

– The Washington Post

‘A fine biography, diligently researched, the analytical passages invariably intelligent and never allowed to impeded the pacy telling of the story’

– Daily Telegraph

‘A fine biography, diligently researched, the analytical passages invariably intelligent and never allowed to impeded the pacy telling of the story’

– Daily Telegraph

'Eig does an excellent job of tracing King’s struggles and self-doubts amid the sudden onslaught of media attention… Each generation ought to grapple with his life and legacy. For those seeking a readable and comprehensive account of King’s life, buttressed by extensive and up-to-date archival and oral history research, Eig’s book will remain essential reading – but certainly not the last word on its subject'

– Guardian

'Definitive ... Monumental ... An extraordinary achievement and an essential life of the iconic warrior for social justice'

– Kirkus Reviews

'[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

‘Eig’s most original contribution lies in his portrayal of Coretta Scott King, whom he incorporates to a degree unmatched by previous biographers’

– Times Literary Supplement

'The most comprehensive MLK biography to date ... Eig refuses to ‘defang’ King, instead pushing Americans to recognize the radical nature of his demands for justice and his resistance to not only racism but militarism and capitalism'

– Booklist

‘This book is not a demolition job; Eig retains enormous respect for King. Nevertheless, he diligently exposes his manifold flaws, not to mention his persistent dishonesty. [It] serves a useful purpose in bringing a painfully accurate portrayal of King to those who might have swallowed too much hype’

– The Times

'It is the perfect introduction to a titan of 20th-century history: Eig shows us King the legend, but also King the complex and imperfect man'

– Tomiwa Owolade, New Statesman, Books of the Year

'a fascinating depiction of Martin Luther King Jr – his brilliance, his flaws and his many shameless opponents'

– Henry Mance, Financial Times, Books of the Year