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Parting the Waters

America in the King Years, Part I - 1954-63

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About this listen

 In Parting the Waters, the first volume of his essential America in the King Years series, Pulitzer Prize winner Taylor Branch gives a “compelling…masterfully told” (The Wall Street Journal) account of Martin Luther King’s early years and rise to greatness.

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.

Taylor Branch provides an unsurpassed portrait of King's rise to greatness and illuminates the stunning courage and private conflict, the deals, maneuvers, betrayals, and rivalries that determined history behind closed doors, at boycotts and sit-ins, on bloody freedom rides, and through siege and murder.

Epic in scope and impact, Branch's chronicle definitively captures one of the nation's most crucial passages.©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. Americas Black & African American Freedom & Security Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government Social Sciences United States

Critic reviews

"Right out of the pages of our lives....Compelling portraits, placed in the excitement of a period when oppressed and powerless people moving together changed themselves and their country profoundly and permanently."

-- Eleanor Holmes Norton, The New York Times Book Review
All stars
Most relevant
An outstanding read capturing so much content! This book has enhanced my knowledge on black history and in turn benefitted me for a lifetime.

An outstanding read

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Necessary for anyone wanting to understand this period and the complexities of the struggle. Brilliant.

Required listening

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What disappointed you about Parting the Waters?

The problem with this book is the absolutely terrible abridgement. It isn't really abridged, but at best you are getting some parts of the book that talk about Martin Luther King Jr., perhaps a sample of the book. For instance, there is a great deal of detail on King's background and his arrival in Montgomery; Rosa Parks refuses to sit at the back of the bus; King speaks to the protestors... then suddenly the narrative leaps forward from 1954 to 1962 and the Albany protests. There's no discussion of the progress of the bus boycott, no discussion of King's involvement in the founding of the SCLC, simply a void. The narrative informs us King is arrested AGAIN... but he has not been arrested before in this narrative... I thought there was something wrong with my download. What you get with this audiobook is much the equivalent of the preview of a kindle book. It gives you a flavour of the book but you can't really follow the book. To give a good sense of how much is missing: Gordon Wood's Empire of Liberty is around 778 pages and the audiobook is 30 hours 58 minutes; Parting the Waters is over 1000 pages but the audiobook is 6 hours 43 minutes. Perhaps you are getting 20% of the book. Is that an abridgement? The fact that this book is shown with reviews from Amazon and with the same title and cover as the print book and described as Pulitzer Prize winning is very misleading.

What will your next listen be?

Not an 'abridged' book!

Did Joe Morton and CCH Pounder do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

I didn't know they were supposed to be different characters. I found the switching backwards and forwards a little annoying, although I didn't find the audio quality as bad as some other people.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

ANGER at the publisher

Any additional comments?

This has taught me to do my homework before buying an abridged book. This series in print was excellent. Please get out an unabridged version soon!

AWFUL! A great book sliced to pieces

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This audio adaptation is a tiny fraction of the original book. Misleading marketing. I wish I could get my credit back.

Abridged beyond all recognition

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This isn't the book as described. It's abridged so much that most of it is missing and key elements don't make sense

Disgraceful

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