A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination

A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination"A solid and compassionate account of a week that proved a graveyard for the liberal dreams of the 1960s, and a seedbed for the backlash against them." -Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland and Before the Storm"A compelling, original history of the tumult that followed Martin Luther King, Jr.??s assassination. Clay Risen??s sobering account of the riots of April 1968 sheds new light on how the racial divisions of the late 1960s reconfigured liberal and conservative politics and transformed American urban life." -Thomas J. Sugrue, author of Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North"Clay Risen??s A Nation on Fire is the long-awaited, definitive account of one of the most important, underreported events of the 1960s. As important for its historical aspect as it is for understanding where we are today, it is an exciting, important document, excitingly told." -George Pelecanos,author of The Turnaround and The Night Gardener"America is still coming to terms with the legacy of the 1960s. A Nation on Fire powerfully demonstrates the impact of urban riots on the politics of race and democracy following Martin Luther King??s assassination. With clarity and insight, Clay Risen chronicles the tumultuous week in 1968 that indelibly transformed American race relations." -Peniel Joseph, author of Waiting ??Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America