| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.2

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 275 words from this article are provided below; about 432 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the "Letter from Birmingham Jail." By S. Jonathan Bass. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2001. xviii, 322 pp. $39.95, ISBN 0-8071-2655-1.)

This book consists of two distinct parts. First, the author subjects Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to detailed technical scrutiny, seeking to explain how the document actually was created. S. Jonathan Bass convincingly demonstrates, making good use of oral interviews and transcripts of FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) bugs of King's telephone conversations, that it was a lengthy process that began in the jail in Birmingham but continued outside for some time. Close advisers and even King himself after he was released from prison edited, reworked, and polished the original draft until the final version appeared. This is a more complex and accurate picture of the creation of the letter than existed previously, but the new version does not challenge King's authorship in any significant way. An important appendix containing the full text with all emendations and additions makes clear that the central ideas and argument of the letter appeared in the earliest version written by King in jail. The subsequent alterations also are not surprising, since it is well known that in the 1960s King frequently used assistants to help shape many of his written articles and essays. Also, the instant recognition by King and his supporters of the public importance of the document meant that inevitably the letter would be precisely honed into the most forceful and clear statement possible before it was published. We are in Bass's debt for this new understanding. . . .

There are about 432 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.