John Lewis and the Power of Hope: How His Legacy Lives On

Susan L. Stone: It has been a long time since I read this book, but I remember it as being very good. John Lewis was such an important figure in the civil rights movement, and there is much we can learn from him. Definitely worth reading.

United States on Oct 29, 2023

Kindle Customer: I have heard many of TBE events that are recounted in this book. But, I still shuddered at the hate and violence of whites against blacks. I questioned my own ability to do as they did and not respond or even think in equally violent ways. Just reading John's story caused me to feel anger against the vicious segregationists.

United States on Aug 28, 2023

GJB: I have read many books on this period of history and John Lewis should rank alongside MLK. This is well written so that even a casual observe can get benefits from reading. I think Jon Meacham really brings great feeling for the intensity John Lewis brought to the Movement and shares his love of people. The humanity of John Lewis is really brought to the fore and while he wouldn’t say he was a saint at the present time he was most probably as near as anybody. Excellent book worked well with additions from Mr Lewis and definitely brings out the respect from both parties.

United Kingdom on Aug 09, 2021

Francis: Enlightenment

Canada on Feb 23, 2021

Ethan Cooper: In “His Truth Is Marching On”, Jon Meacham focuses on the life of the young John Lewis, who became a national figure in civil rights movement in his early twenties. At the beginning of TRUTH, Meacham places the elderly and dying Lewis at the head of a peaceful march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in March of 2020. This particular event commemorated the Bloody Sunday outrage in Selma, Alabama in March of 1965, when Alabama state troopers and a hastily deputized county posse brutally attacked roughly 300 peaceful marchers who were, among other things, protesting the recent death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young man shot without provocation by an Alabama state trooper.

This brutal police action in Selma galvanized the country and helped President Johnson develop legislative support for the Voting Rights Act. But according to Meacham: “As the years passed, he [Lewis] worried that the civil rights movement was receding into myth and legend. The battles of more than a half century ago could seem as distant as Agincourt or Antietam.” This, I’m sure, is one of Meacham’s reasons for writing TRUTH.

To provide a flavor for this book's take on this brutal but...

United States on Dec 13, 2020

David Castaldo: An absolute brilliant read. Jon Meacham does an wonderful job of bringing this amazing life of John Lewis to us. Front cover to cover you will take a journey like no other. A book that should be in every high school as part of their history class. This book is worth your time.

Canada on Oct 09, 2020

Alan G: Outstanding book that brings to life the turmoil of the USA in the 60's and as we read can see that turmoil still around us. Stories of extraordinary men and women, some whose lives were taken. The book will not put you to sleep but will create an awakening within

Canada on Sep 26, 2020

Ricardo Mio: The first thing you need to know about John Lewis is that he always wanted to be a preacher. The second thing you need to know is that the goal of the 1960's Civil Rights movement--of which Lewis was a key player--was for African Americans to achieve equality before the law, as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and that included the right to vote. The author of this book, Jon Meacham, is a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer, who has produced a number of best-selling books, notably "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power", "American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House", and, more recently "The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels." His prose style is graceful and easy to comprehend; at 249 pages his book on John Lewis has religious overtones, and strikes me as a labor love.

John Lewis was born on February 21, 1940, on a small farm outside Troy, Alabama, the third of ten children. His parents were dirt-poor sharecroppers wed to the unforgiving red clay of Pike County, Alabama. Early on Lewis discovered that he hated the hardscrabble life of his parents; picking cotton was backbreaking work, that generated barely enough money for the family to live on. At the age of...

United States on Sep 24, 2020

Tai T. Wong: Meacham is able to "state his case, of which he is certain" (paraphrasing Paul Anka) - a very informative and insiring read.

Canada on Sep 21, 2020