John Lewis was a civil rights icon and a man of faith whose story is “as important to the story of our nation as any of our Founding Fathers.” Great grandson of a slave and son of sharecroppers, he did not abandon his faith even after being arrested at a Nashville lunch counter, being assaulted by violent mobs on the Freedom Rides, or nearly killed on the Pettus Bridge marching in Selma, AL.

As a young reporter in 1992, Meacham asked Lewis what it was like to have traveled so far—wasn’t it harder in some ways now? Lewis responded,

“We marched for what the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. called the Beloved Community. He wanted to make love real, to give the gospel some legs — and he taught us that we have to use not only voices but there comes a time when you have to use your feet. And that march, the march for love, that march doesn’t end.”

Lewis says in the afterword that “the journey begins with faith –faith in the dignity and worth of every human being.” And Lewis’ story, Meacham writes, "is a testament to the unambiguous belief that justice can be served in a fallen world." Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to review this advance copy.

Maybe I wasn’t paying attention in school but I don’t remember US History books going into this much detail about the Freedom Riders or the March on Selma and that is a real shame. John Lewis was a national treasure. It saddens me that he is no longer with us and that the things he was fighting for 60 years ago are still things we’re fighting for today. We did not deserve John Lewis. Rest in power, sir.

John Lewis, a towering figure in the civil rights movement and the “conscience of the Congress” lived to see a Black American become president of the United States before his death from pancreatic cancer in July, 2020. He wept when he saw the video of George Floyd’s murder but was amazed at the outpouring of protest in the months following his death. Among his final actions was to join the mayor of Washington DC to witness the Black Lives Matter crossing in front of Lafayette Square near the White House. Lewis has already told his story in the memoir Walking with the Wind and the highly successful series of three graphic novels March (I.II. III). Distinguished historian Jon Meacham brings another perspective to this man of humble beginnings who was so able to inspire a nation that three former presidents spoke at his funeral. This intimate portrait reminds us why we should pay attention to a great public servant who echoed the statement “whoever uncouples the religious and the social life has not understood Jesus”. Rooted in his strong unwavering faith, Lewis spoke out, was beaten and even shed blood on numerous occasions for his dedication to bring an end to racial discrimination and segregation. A fitting legacy would be a strengthened voting rights act currently under consideration in Congress. Meacham's beautiful and thoroughly researched tribute affirms why John Lewis matters.

As an individual who grew up in the north during this same period this book opened my eyes to travesty that was "equality" in the south. It also serves as an indictation as to why there are still proble,s in today's USA. Mr. Meacham's e excellent prose combined with the story he tells makes this one of the highlight reads of the year. The timeliness of the publication seems fortuitous as well. I was reading it as Mr. Lewis' funeral was transpiring. This is a mandatory read for any one who grew up in that era or anyone seeking to comprehend the root issues that are currently affecting our country.

Revulsion, then redemption: Is there anything more American? "Redemption - redemption is everything." Lewis said. "It is what we pray for. It is what we march for."
This book was incredible. It is such an important read and it is written with so much detail, thought and care. Jon Meacham does a fantastic job of laying out the pivotal moments in John Lewis' life and in his ongoing fight for equal rights and voting rights for all Americans. He pays great attention to honoring John Lewis' belief in non-violence, and getting into "good trouble" as a form of protest to try and move the country forward.
I have done a decent amount of research and reading on the Civil Rights Act, and this book revealed to me a number of new insights, individuals, and their role in shaping, and in some cases hindering, the landmark legislation that John Lewis fought so hard and risked his life for. The photos included in the book paint a very honest visual of just how hard fought this movement was and just how brutal the fight was. We all know that John Lewis was sent to jail over 40 times for his work in the movement, but to learn more about the conditions under which he was sent, how long he had to stay, and how we was treated while there will have you even more in awe of this amazing human being and all he stood for.
The author and John Lewis leave us with marching orders and reminders that democracy and the rights given to each of us are in fact not free, they came with a cost to many before us, and we all need to continue that work in to the future. Each of us can do something, and we all have a responsibility to. "What can we do? We have to try, we have to seek, and we have to speak up. America can be saved." -John Lewis.

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

Meacham’s “His Truth is Marching On” highlights John Lewis’ early years of activism as only the best biographers and historians do.... through Lewis’ own words.

Right from the start, it get as if Lewis was speaking directly to me as the reader. Meacham’s decision to focus on a deep dive into Lewis’ life through 1968 is one that I appreciate as it allowed for an in-depth look into this time critical period in the history of the United States from the perspective of Lewis.

Meacham’s book, soon to be released just weeks after Lewis’ passing, is a wonderful tribute to a great American hero and leader that is heavy on facts and personal stories.

Meacham’s epilogue and Lewis’ afterward provide excellent perspective on Lewis and his dedication to “good trouble”, as an emerging leader in the Civil Rights era and throughout his career as a political leader.

John Lewis’ story is told beautifully by Meacham in this book and I would definitely recommend this book.

To love in the face of hate was the deepest call of the Lord Himself. – Tertullian.

John Lewis' life was a long journey of making Tertullian's proclamation the template for the righteous, disciplined, nonviolent warrior to make a difference.

Martin Luther King Jr. was largely responsible for having started the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. John Lewis carried out the call for decades and remained faithful through the end.

That's not to say he was ever a pushover. As stubborn as anyone ever was, Lewis was jailed dozens of times, often for disobedience to unjust laws in the face of bigotry, as he did with fellow students at lunch counters in Nashville early in his college career.

“There is more power in socially organized masses on the march than there is in guns in the hands of a few desperate men,” King later wrote. “Our enemies would prefer to deal with a small armed group rather than with a huge, unarmed but resolute mass of people.... All history teaches us that like a turbulent ocean beating great cliffs into fragments of rock, the determined movement of people incessantly demanding their rights always disintegrates the old order.”

Lewis' oft quoted motto of getting into “good trouble” was no empty platitude.

“The gospel at its best deals with the whole man, not only his soul but his body, not only his spiritual well-being, but his material well-being. Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.” MLK Jr. referring to and from the writings of [Walter] Rauschenbusch on the Social Gospel of Jesus.

Lewis reflected, after one lunch counter sit-in, “Altogether, it was a moving feeling within me that I was sitting there demanding a God-given right, and my soul became satisfied that I was right in what I was doing,” he says. “At the same time there was something deep down within me, moving me, that I could no longer be satisfied or go along with an evil system—that I had to be maladjusted to it and in spite of all of this I had to keep loving the people who denied me service, who stared at me.”

Later,

“On Sunday, June 21, 1964—Father's Day—three Freedom Summer workers, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney, disappeared after being arrested and jailed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in Neshoba County. Schwerner and Goodman were white; Chaney was black.
Lewis joined the seemingly fruitless search for their bodies. With friends from SNCC, he “walked around in the hot, sticky dusk, bugs buzzing around, out in the middle of nowhere, poking at scrub grass and bushes and dirt. It was really pretty useless, not to mention dangerous.... Rivers were dragged, woods were scoured, dirt was turned. … and bodies were found. Old bodies, unidentified corpses, the decomposed remains of black people long given up as 'missing.' … It was ugly, sickening, horrifying. Here was proof—as if it was needed—that those woods and rivers in the heart of this state had long been a killing field, a dumping ground for the Klan.”

“By the first week of August, the bodies of the three martyred activists were found at a dam site in Neshoba County, buried deep. Each had been shot; Chaney had been horribly beaten as well. In the face of such violence, nonviolence seemed inadequate, antiquated, unseasonable. Lewis was crushed by the murders and listened at James Chaney's funeral as David Dennis of CORE cried out in understandable bitterness, “If you go back home and sit down and take what these white men in Mississippi are doing to us … if you take it and don't do something about it … then God damn your souls!”

In total, John Lewis' life was the forerunner to today's Black Lives Matter movement. His heart and his steps throughout his life echoed the message of MLK. May John Lewis live in your heart. Jon Meacham makes it concrete and very real in this book. I hope you read it.

With the recent passing of Congressman John Lewis, our nation lost a civil rights icon, and a true leader, who moved our nation towards a more just society. In this novel, Jon Meachem eloquently captures John Lewis’ life, from his humble beginnings in Troy, Alabama to his rise within the Civil Rights Movement. Meachem focuses on Lewis’ role as the Chairman for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), as well as his eventual departure from SNCC after differences arose due to his unwavering commitment to nonviolence.

Since the passing of John Lewis, he has often been described as saintly, which makes his commitment to the movement seem unattainable for the average person. My favorite thing about this book is that Meachem humanizes Lewis by providing readers with a front row seat into the heart and soul of this man. Additionally, this novel highlights the progress our nation has made, while also reminding us that we have yet to reach the Beloved Community that John dedicated his life to. This book is a must read and I hope that it serves as a call to action and encourages readers to be active participants on this march to freedom.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House, for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent book about the late John Lewis. Meacham's ability to bring history to life without making it dry and boring is a true art, and I'm glad that his latest subject is Mr. Lewis and the civil rights movement.
This book would be an excellent addition to any high school curriculum and brings attention to all that has been achieved, but also how much more needs to be done .

30. His Truth is Marching On -Jon Meacham I was about to get an advance copy of this book. It is incredible. Meacham writing about Lewis is as wonderful as you think it would be. But a copy when it comes out later this year. 5/5 @jmeacham

The day of John Lewis' death I began reading the egalley for His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and The Power of Hope by Jon Meacham.

It was a hard book to read, and heartbreaking, for Lewis was willing to lay down his life to achieve a just society, and he faced the most vicious violence.

Lewis has left behind a country still divided and angry, the dream of a Beloved Community unfulfilled. The struggle for the promise of America continues.

Meacham writes, "John Robert Lewis embodied the traits of a saint in the classical Christian sense of the term," a man who answered the call to do the Lord's work in the world. A man who faced tribulation and persecution for seeking the justice we are called to enact as our faith responsibility. A man who sought redemption for his country. A man whose faith never flagged, not in the face of hate and blows, not when the movement shifted away from non-violence. He was faithful to his Gospel call of peace and the establishment of The Beloved Community.

"The tragedy of man," the twentieth-century Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr observed, "is that he can conceive self-perfection but cannot achieve it," Meacham quotes, adding, "And the tragedy of America is that we can imagine justice but cannot finally realize it."

I was only twenty when I married a seminary student. Professors and the school Dean had worked to integrate churches in the South. (see NYT article here.) I audited classes taught by these men. One wrote a seminal work on White Privilege, Segregation and the Bible. Another taught Niebuhr Moral Man in Immoral Society. It was an atmosphere that believed in faith in action, changing society to bring the Gospel to fulfillment.

The world has changed, including the church. Personal salvation and sanctity replaced social justice. Church as entertainment and community evolved. Separation from general society was the norm, with Christian music and businesses arising. We hardly recognize contemporary Christianity, especially it's alignment with Trump's divisive and racist actions.

We are at a decisive moment in history. What future will American choose?

Meacham is an inspirational and eloquent writer. His portrait of Lewis begins in his childhood through the Civil Rights movement and the Voting Rights act, ending with the rise of Black Power.

Meacham calls for us to be inspired by the life of John Lewis as we decide on our future in America. Will we remain divided and filled with hate? Or will we embrace love and faith in the value of every being? "God's truth is marching on," he reminds us, "We can do it...I believe we can do it."

Meacham ends his book with hope that America will yet achieve a just society.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

His Truth Is Marching On is the perfect book to read this summer. It is a thought-provoking book which left me inspired to do more. Jon Meacham is an excellent storyteller.

Part history, part philosophical tome, His Truth is Marching On gives us John Lewis’s story as a civil rights activist. Arrested 45 times in his life, Lewis was a strong proponent of the nonviolent approach to political change. Even as times and opinions changed, he stood by his creed of nonviolence and a faith in a “beloved community”.
Jon Meachum was granted numerous interviews with Lewis and we truly get to see the soul of the man. Deeply religious, he felt called to put his life on the line in the service of what Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature”.
The book is much more than a history lesson. It is a religious treatise, spelling out the reasoning behind his belief in the nonviolent approach. It is a testament to a man of strong convictions, a man that Meachum compares to the saints. As Meachum himself says in the Author’s Note, it is “an appreciative account of the major moments of Lewis’s life in the movement, of the theological understanding he brought to the struggle, and of the utility of that vision as America enters the third decade of the twenty-first century amid division and fear.”
This isn’t an easy read. And the pictures included show just how violent the times were. But it is a truly necessary book that needs to be read to understand the history of the movement and the importance of the man. If Lewis was a Moses, we are reminded of the need for a generation of Joshuas to rise up and carry on the fight, especially in this tragically divided time. An article in today’s NY Times reminds us that democracy is not a given. It can be taken away and there are those right now that seek to do just that. Lewis fought to make sure America became a true democracy.
My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

Meachum NEVER disappoints. His Jefferson book is a fine piece of scholarship. This book is equally well done and a timely topic for our country. Highly recommend!

Quite timely by an excellent historian and writer. I have read several of Meacham's books and he never disappoints with his detail, angles and breadth of knowledge and research

This biography of John Lewis could not be more timely. Jon Meacham was meeting with and speaking with Congressman Lewis until shortly before the latter’s death, and the depth of those Interviews going back years shows through brightly. Mr Meacham has made the presence or absence of spirituality in our public life an important focus in his writing, and few subjects could offer a clearer example of “the cost of discipleship” than Lewis. Meacham gives a thoroughly researched history of Lewis’ life as a man, a Christian, a social progressive, and a major political force. In the long introduction, the author examines Lewis’ spiritual development and the influence of primary theologians such as Rheinhold Niebuhr on his thinking. Especially well done are the treatments of Lewis’ relationships with Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leading figures in the. nonviolence movement.; Lewis’ pain as the split develops between Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X and the nonviolence advocates is very tangible to the reader. The same is true of Meacham’s telling of Lewis’ rejection by SNCC organizers and the anger and sense of betrayal he felt. His rising up from this low point through courage and commitment are beautifully conveyed. From beginning to end, the reader is given a close-up and deeply personal portrait of John Lewis.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to read this book on the day that Congressman John Lewis was crossing over the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the last time. This book took me on a review of Congressman John Lewis’s journey into infinity. I am grateful for the reminder of the total cost; the prepaid price was for my right to vote. I am thankful for the review of a history that ties me to the understanding of why my HBCU education was more significant than books and classes. My college years provided space and time that enabled me confidence beyond seeking a job and a title. The HBCU experience taught me the history that John Lewis lived to tell. It instilled in me the spirit of accountability to something bigger than myself and a responsibility to the next generation to ensure their rights and freedoms are respected and protected.

Jon Meacham so eloquently picked up the consistent story of “March” and expressed the greater truth and story of John Lewis. I feel re-engaged and reunited with the work of the young people in the Civil Rights Movement that fought for this nation to be free of the bondage of hate. I can only hope that it will speak to the entitled, the bigots, and the entrenched of the nation to move forward and not backward. I can only have faith that after COVID-19 and Marching in the streets, we the people will pick up and carry the torch that John Lewis passed. To Jon Meacham, thank you, I hope your narrative will encourage all Americans to start moving in a new united direction toward authentic progress for a United States of America.

Finished this book 2 minutes ago and wanted to send my feedback while it’s still raw and fresh in my mind. As a Middle Ages White woman who has lived her whole life ensconced in the northern part of the state, NJ, I didn’t organically learn much about the civil rights movement. In school it was touched on of course, and we learned who MLK Jr was, and Malcolm X. And truly I’ve spent 50 years not knowing much about the movement or the names of the countless others involved in the sacrifices and marching and fighting that went on. Which shames me to admit, because I’m a lifelong Democrat and consider myself to be Progressive and I believe in loving your neighbor whether they are black or Muslim or gay or even a (gasp!) conservative republican. But given the political and social climate we currently live in, when I saw an ad for this book I was immediately interested. Was so happy and shocked that my request was granted from NetGalley to receive an advance copy. Anyway, I read it in a day, even with the constant putting the book down to google yet another name. The people this book introduced me to brought me to tears - Fannie Mae Hamer, Diane Nash, Autherine Lucy and C.T. Vivian just to name a few. And a few other names who brought tears to my eyes for all the wrong reasons - Jim Clark and Bull Connor to name a few. I didn’t know any of these people or their stories. Even though this is a book about John Lewis and I ddI learn so much about him and what an awe inspiring amazing man he truly was, I learned about those other people and their individual significance to the movement, both positive and negative. This book sheds some light on JFK and George Wallace as well, these people weren’t what they’d always seemed to be, at least not to me. This book shows that, forgive me for using this expression but it’s too apropos to avoid, life isn’t black and white. Which of course we know, but John Lewis lived it, finding And illustrating that grey area. The writing is excellent but the subject matter could write itself, it’s the research that the author has done that truly stands out. Also the pictures are awesome I only wish there were more. This book brought me to tears several times and man did it make me wish I’d had the honor of meeting John Lewis and having a conversation with this incredible man. Buy this book, read it and then loan it someone you love. Or maybe loan it to someone you should love but don’t. But make sure they give it back because this is one you’ll want to keep on your shelves forever.
**I revived this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book, which covers a lot of the important moments in John Lewis's life/important moments in the fight for civil rights, was wonderful. I learned so much from it and the writing style made it so easy to absorb all the new things I learned!

John Lewis' life could fill hundreds and hundreds of pages. Jon Meacham's book "His Truth is Marching On" focuses on Lewis' major life events surrounding the fight for civil rights. While much is known by many about the overall highlights of Jon's life- the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, his speech on the March on Washington (though overshadowed by King's "I Have a Dream" speech, his long tenure in Congress, Meacham expands on these events as well as other significant events in John's life. Lewis' great-grandfather was born enslaved, and John's youth was spent learning about religion, and was enrolled in a theological seminary. As a young man, he is enthralled with the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. and other teachers of nonviolence (something he adheres to when others stray from those techniques later in the movement). Religion plays a crucial role in John's life and he believes in the social gospel. One can forget how YOUNG Lewis was during his activism in the freedom rides and sit-ins, the amount of times he was arrested, and how badly beaten he was (his march in Selma fractured his skull and caused a severe concussion). The march in Selma (and the videos seen on TV) really was a catalyst for America to see how horrible things were, and ushered the Voting Rights Act in.

Meacham distills a lot of history down, and uses illustrative examples of events Lewis participated in, quotes of people he very much admired, and challenges he faced. The book winds down with the transformation after the Voting Rights Act with increased violence, the rise of the Black Power and Black Panther movements, while John's role in his organization is diminished as he adheres to his non-violent philosophy. Sweeping laws were passed in the 1960's but systemic racism remained, and STILL remain. The book concludes with the assassinations of King and Bobby Kennedy, and Lewis' work in Congress is touched on in the epilogue. I greatly appreciated the Afterword by Lewis on how his philosophy is still applicable in today's current environment and the hope that he has for the future.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for allowing me to reach this advance copy for review.