Civil Rights Movement Martin Luther King Jr Stride Toward Freedom First Book on Montgomery Bus Boycott 1958

Martin Luther King

First Edition

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. 1958. First book by Martin Luther King Jr., written at age twenty-nine, presenting a direct account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the formation of the Montgomery Improvement Association during the opening phase of the modern Civil Rights Movement. The work establishes King’s early articulation of nonviolent resistance as both a method of political action and a framework grounded in Christian theology and Gandhian philosophy. It situates the arrest of Rosa Parks in December 1955 and the subsequent 381-day boycott within a coordinated campaign of mass protest, legal challenge, and community organization, while documenting the risks faced by participants and the emergence of King as a national leader.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958. First edition. The text follows King’s arrival in Montgomery in 1954 through the sustained boycott, with chapters such as “The Day of Days, December 5” detailing the initial mobilization and “The Violence of Desperate Men” describing retaliation against movement leaders. “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence” outlines the intellectual and religious influences shaping King’s philosophy, while “Where Do We Go From Here?” addresses the broader direction of the movement. The volume includes photographic sections depicting boycott participants and key figures, along with introductory endorsements by Benjamin Mays and Ralph McGill that situate the book within contemporary public discourse at the time of publication.

Published during the consolidation of the Civil Rights Movement, the book provided an early written record of organized Black resistance to segregation and circulated widely among national and international audiences. It contributed to the framing of nonviolence as a central strategy in American protest movements and connected the Montgomery campaign to wider struggles for human rights. Blue cloth binding with black spine, in publisher’s dust jacket; illustrated with photographic plates; octavo. Dust jacket with moderate chipping at spine ends and corners, short closed tears, and toning to rear panel; binding firm with toning to endpapers, interior clean; overall very good in good dust jacket. A foundational text of Civil Rights history that preserves King’s earliest extended statement of leadership, strategy, and philosophy.

Item #22179

Price: $500.00