Martin Luther King: The Essential Box Set, edited by Clayborne Carson, Peter Holloran, and Kris Shepard - Large Print Reviews

Large Print Reviews

Martin Luther King: The Essential Box Set
Edited by Clayborne Carson, Peter Holloran, and Kris Shepard

Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Essential Box Set
The Landmark Speeches and Sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Edited by Clayborne Carson, Peter Holloran, and Kris Shepard
Hachette Audio, (2009)
Original Recordings on 15 CDs
ISBN: 978-1-60024-850-4
Genre: History

Reviewed by Angela Evans - February 26, 2010

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speeches stirred the soul of a nation and helped to propel the civil rights movement forward. In the Essential Box Set, Dr. King's most inspirational speeches and sermons have been gathered together on fifteen compact discs. These are all the original recordings, so the sound quality varies from speech to speech, but all are clear and easy to understand.

This collection is divided evenly between Dr. King's sermons and speeches, and it includes such memorable addresses as his I Have a Dream speech and his rousing, A Knock at Midnight sermon. Other notable additions to this collection include the speeches:

The Address to the First Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting
The Birth of a New Nation
Give Us the Ballot
Address at the Freedom Hall Rally in Cobo Hall
Eulogy for the Young Victims of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing
MLK's Acceptance Address for the Nobel Peace Prize
Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March
Beyond Vietnam
Where Do We Go From Here?
I've Been to the Mountaintop

and the sermons:

Rediscovering Lost Values
Paul's Letter to American Christians
Loving Your Enemies
The American Dream
Guidelines for a Constructive Church
Three Dimensions of a Complete Life
Why Jesus Called a Man a Fool
The Drum Major Instinct
Unfulfilled Dreams
Remaining Awake Through the Great Revolution

In addition, each speech and sermon in this collection is accompanied by eloquent introductions by key figures in the Civil Rights Movement, individuals who played a major role in Dr. King's life, or who were touched by his philosophy. These introductions are proved by the such notables as the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rosa Louie Parks, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Reverend Leon H. Sullivan, and many more.

This is a phenomenal collection that allows you to step back into time and hear just what a great orator and spiritual leader Dr. King was and to hear these speeches and sermons as they were originally given. Most important, this collection includes the full speech/sermon as it was given. They have not been condensed nor are they snippets, allowing the listener to fully appreciate the grandeur and message in each. Consequently, this important collection should be added to every school and public library, and should be required 'listening' for anyone interested in Dr. King's work, the Civil Rights Movement, or simply in hearing some of the most invigorating and inspiring speeches and sermons given by one of modern America's premier orators.

As a side note, this collection is actually a compilation of two previous collections of Dr. King's speeches and sermons, namely A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Seven discs in this set duplicate the material from A Call to Conscience and eight discs duplicate the material from A Knock at Midnight. The Essential Box Set is a must-have collection, but if you have either of the previous two collections, this set may be duplicating recordings that you already have.

Related Reviews:

A Knock at Midnight, edited by Clayborne Carson & Peter Holloran.
Original Recordings of eleven sermons delivered by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Each sermon is prefaced by an introduction by such personages as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bishop T. D. Jakes, Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., and the Rev. Billy Graham.
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by Clayborne Carson.
A posthumous autobiography of Dr. King compiled from original recordings and readings of personal and public documents related to King's life and work.

Back to top

About LPR | Privacy Policy | Site Map

Questions or Comments? Send an email to:

info@largeprintreviews.com