Customer Reviews
An epic and intimate portrait: spell-binding! - By: Ian, 20 Aug 2008 
This is one of the most powerful & moving books I've ever read, & I wanted to give it six stars. How here to do it justice?
First, it's a cracking read. (Other history books can be heavy, you keep checking to see how many pages to the end, or leftin the chapter). "Parting the Waters" is a real page-turner. It is long -- it kept me going through a long haul flight, lots of airport waiting & a couple of long bus/train rides -- but it made the time pass effortlessly.
It's a great story, structured like a novel: strong central character, you meet himin experienced youth; the hero encounters challenges, & overcomes them & embarks on a long & dangerous journey with many battles & dangers, the hero takes on these battles & grows stronger. This classic plot structure with a real heroic quality makes it a gripping read.
"Parting the Waters" chronicles the grand canvass of the civil rights movement: the major battles (Montgomery bus boycott, the freedom rides, the voter registration drivers, the Birmingham campaign...), the politcal backdrop (Kennedy's election, Kennedy's Presidency, the dilemmas over the Civil Rights bill), all the characters, internal conflicts & under-currents among civil rights organisations & campaigners. But as well it zoomsin with tender & intimate portraits on the people at the centre or caught upin the turmoil: how did it affect one of the protestors... or the story of a mother... or of one of the tragic victims.
It's so important: the end of apartheidin the world's biggest democracy. Tenant farmers who tried to register to vote were evicted from their farms. Men & women riding a bus were stoned & fire-bombed. Police officers beat up citizens for fun. Those who tried to testify were shotin the head. And, terribly, so much more.
Parting the Waters makes you live the emotion. I felt dumbfounded at what southern USA was likein the fifties & sixties, inspired by the civil rights campaigners, numbed by the viciousness & brutal violence they faced,in tears at what they had to go through, angry, so angry they had go through it; on the edge of my seat, alert & rivetted, to see what happened next, bewildered by &in despair of the whites' attitudes,in tears again at the protestors' courage, such inspiring & daunting courage.
And Martin Luther King: we see him with all his weaknesses & flaws, but what a giant of a man! What a giant of human history!
This book is being readin 1000 years time & I run out of superlatives.
Anyone who does not give this book 5 stars is crazy!!! - By: , 24 Jul 1999 Taylor Branch presents solid research & keen observationin his first of three books on the civil rights movement. Other than Garrow's "Bearing the Cross," Branch's "Parting" is a triumphin presenting an honest approach of Dr. King. The first book is, & the final two will be, THE historical text of the civil rights movement of the 1950's & 1960's.
One of the best books I've ever read! - By: , 27 May 1999 I purchased this because I am interestedin King, the Civil Rights Movement & because I grew up during this timeframe & wanted to know more. I was a bit apprehensive when I saw the size of the book & worried it would be a drudge, but nothing could have been further from the truth. I find I look forward to reading it each night & can't put it down, but at the same time I don't want it to end. I am almost finished with it & have purchased the second book so I can continue (and I was really glad to hear this is a trilogy). I can't recommend this book enough. And I talk to everyone about it. It is an important work & a pure joy to read. Thank you Mr. Branch!
It changed my life - By: , 02 Oct 1998 I first read PARTING THE WATERS 9 years ago. Since then I have read it again. And I have to say it is one of the best books ever written. The Pulitzer Prize was well deserved. The research & heart Mr. Branch has sewn into this beautiful story is amazing. And it's all true. I have just started on PILLAR OF FIRE, the 2nd part of the trilogy. I can't wait.
An engrossing summary - By: , 27 Jun 1998 
When I picked up this book I wasn't particularly interestedin Martin Luther King. I wanted to find out more about the Civil Rights era. For someone of my generation (30ish), I was only vaguely aware of the major events of the civil rights movement. This book has a series of excellent narratives detailing some of the major events of the movement (bus boycott, freedom rides) that were vivid & disturbing. I was moved by the passion of the peaople involved on both sides of the color line.
