Reviews
“Panoramic and richly insightful. … Greenberg makes us privy to the alchemy that transformed a shy Alabama farm boy into a central voice of the movement that drove a dagger into the heart of Jim Crow. This biography sets a new standard by giving Lewis’s post-civil-rights story the depth of attention it deserves.”
front-page review, The New York Times Book Review, October 4, 2024
“A work of art … David Greenberg has brought to life not only one unusual man but also the tumultuous racial history of our country. … Read every word of this superb book.”
“An exemplary life, and an exemplary biography that will rekindle readers’ commitment to racial justice.”
“An appropriately weighty new biography … [of] King’s spiritual and moral heir.”
“Lewis’s biography unfolds as a danger-filled, coming-of-age adventure chronicled in sweeping detail by David Greenberg in his exceptional, tremendous biography.”
“David Greenberg’s John Lewis: A Life is an imperative to get to know the man.”
“Masterful. … Greenberg uses archival sources to great effect. … He is to be commended for furnishing us with a portrait of Lewis unlikely to be bettered any time soon.”
Bowling Green Daily News, December 1, 2024
“Greenberg’s book will undoubtedly take its place among the works of other brilliant historians like Taylor Branch and Aldon D. Morris, and rightfully so.”
“Luminous… A towering figure is given the stellar biography he deserves.”
“The first definitive biography of the monumentally accomplished politician … A nuanced portrait.”
“Greenberg provides revelatory details while recounting epic events. Many of these gems come from the author’s own interviews, with hundreds of activists and politicians.”
“Remarkable. … Offers a complete portrait of Lewis’ evolution and his political education. Greenberg conducted hundreds of interviews for the biography, including with Lewis himself, and that work shows throughout the book. … The biography does an excellent job of giving readers the context of Lewis’ life, including rifts between him and other giants of the movement. And it provides an inside look at how Lewis honed his political skills over time.”
“There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of other wonderful anecdotes I discovered while reading Greenberg’s well-researched, compelling biography of John Lewis’ life as a civil rights hero and icon, as an organizer and speaker at the 1963 March on Washington, as a congressman, and as a fascinating human being.”
“A rousing account … a rewarding profile in fortitude.”
“It’s an event when a great life can be celebrated in a great biography. David Greenberg clears that high bar in his definitive story of John Lewis, the lifelong civil rights crusader who died in 2020. It’s hard to discern which is more engaging—the legendary life, or the quick-paced, clear-eyed biography.”
“We are lucky to have this biography of John Lewis, a work of art. … David Greenberg has brought to life not only one unusual man but also the tumultuous racial history of our country in the second half of the 20th century and into the early years of the 21st century.”
“Rich, illuminating … a vivid portrayal.”
“A passionately researched and defining portrait of an American hero. … Greenberg captures Lewis’ life, achievements, and times with heart-stopping precision.”
“David Greenberg’s new book, John Lewis: A Life, is a well-researched, engaging, and revealing biography of the civil rights leader and congressman. … Authoritative.”
“A nice, fat, old-fashioned Great Man biography of the sort Lewis so richly deserves.”
“Each page is a pleasantly dramatic new discovery, like a treasure hunt with an old friend.”
“Shrewd analysis and a novelist’s pacing. … Greenberg balances vibrant political history with Lewis’ complex persona and values, particularly his fiery commitment to his constituents. … John Lewis: A Lifeis never worshipful but rather approaches its subject with investigative curiosity and rigor. Greenberg gives us the complete view without bogging down in minutiae.”
“Greenberg weaves a rich 560-page narrative. … There is an impressive physicality to Greenberg’s prose—an earned ruggedness and tenacity.”
“Using archives and other newer sources, Greenberg dives into Lewis as a whole, taking us back even before he was born. Readers who’ve spent considerable time studying the politician will be pleasantly surprised to find new information here; those who are familiar with Lewis’s Civil Rights work or his politics will devour the until-now unfamiliar parts.”
“The brilliance of David Greenberg’s biography is that it not only captures Lewis’ life and legacy, but firmly uncovers how the larger trends in American social, cultural, intellectual, and political history can be seen through the life of one man. Like the best of biographies, John Lewis: A Life is not just about the subject of the biography, but also the world in which he lived.”