Parting the Waters: Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-63 Taylor Branch
Analyzing the beginnings of black self-consciousness, this book maps the structure of segregation and bigotry in America between 1954 and 1963. The author considers the constantly changing behaviour of those in Washington with regard to the injustice of offical racism operating in many states at this time. This book won the 1989 Martin Luther King Memorial prize.