Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the &quote;Letter from Birmingham Jail&quote;

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "e;Letter from Birmingham Jail"e; is arguably the most important written document of the civil rights protest era and a widely read modern literary classic.

Personally addressed to eight white Birmingham clergy who sought to avoid violence by publicly discouraging King's civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, the nationally published "e;Letter"e; captured the essence of the struggle for racial equality and provided a blistering critique of the gradualist approach to racial justice.

It soon became part of American folklore, and the image of King penning his epistle from a prison cell remains among the most moving of the era.

Yet, as S. Jonathan Bass explains in the first comprehensive history of King's "e;Letter,"e; this image and the piece's literary appeal conceal a much more complex tale.This updated edition of Blessed Are the Peacemakers includes a new foreword by Paul Harvey, a new afterword by James C.

Cobb, and a new epilogue by the author.