Martin Luther King Jr. worked to transform American society. The impact of his legacy reverberates today, posing fundamental questions about the unresolved problems he confronted.

Born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership in the Civil Right Movement spanned from age twenty-six until his assassination at age thirty-nine on April 4, 1968 when he was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

It might seem inconceivable that more could be written, or new things said, about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. But as with Rosa Parks, renowned scholar and bestselling author Jeanne Theoharis has uncovered a totally new and undiscovered chapter in King’s life and career, one that confronts the King of popular memory who vanquished Jim Crow in the South and expands our understanding of his work as an activist and radical thinker.  Theoharis also transforms what we know about Coretta Scott King, underscoring her central role in shaping her husband’s thinking and activism.

In the myth-shattering book King of the North, Theoharis upends the dominant story of King's life, focusing in on his early life and time outside of the South as he crisscrossed the country from the Northeast to the West Coast, challenging school segregation, police brutality, housing segregation, and job discrimination.  Here is a King whose work speaks to our present moment more than ever.

Explore key moments in King's life and career in the timeline below and read an excerpt from King of the North.