Washington Post correspondent and TV commentator Juan Williams has produced an illuminating look at a true giant of 20th-century American politics. Williams retells the story of Thurgood Marshall's successful desegregation of public schools in the U.S. with his victory in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, followed by his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1967 for a 24-year term. But he also recounts how W.E.B. Du Bois, then the head of the NAACP, gave a cold shoulder to the younger Marshall (who eventually helped oust Du Bois from the organization), and describes the tug of war between Marshall and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, as well as the mind games Lyndon Johnson played on Marshall before nominating him for the Supreme Court. Readers also learn about Marshall's relationship with his replacement, Clarence Thomas, which was surprisingly civil given their contrary views on affirmative action. Williams has captured many examples of Thurgood Marshall's heroism and humanity in this comprehensive yet readable biography of a complex, combative, and courageous civil rights figure. --Eugene Holley Jr.


From Publishers Weekly
Thirteen years before becoming the first African-American justice on the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall's place in American history was secured, with his victory over school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education. Williams (Eyes on the Prize) offers readers a thorough, straightforward life of "the unlikely leading actor in creating social change in the United States in the twentieth century." Although he was denied access to the files of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where Marshall devoted more than 40 years of his law career, and worked without the cooperation of Marshall's family, Williams has managed to fill in the blanks with over 150 interviews, including lengthy sessions with Marshall himself in 1989. Marshall is portrayed as an outspoken critic of black militancy and nonviolent demonstrations. Williams mentions, but does not dwell on, Marshall's history of heavy drinking, womanizing and sexual harassment. But his private contacts with J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, even while that organization was working to discredit Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, receives critical attention. This relationship "could have cost him his credibility among civil rights activists had it become known," writes Williams. Likewise, it would appear that his extra-legal activities and charges of incompetence and Communist connections would, if publicized, have kept him from the Supreme Court, as he himself admitted. Nevertheless, this work will stand as an accessible and fitting tribute to a champion of individual rights and "the architect of American race relations." Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
These two books about a giant in U.S. legal and political history mirror each other in myriad ways, detailing the history of the NAACP, the rise of Jim Crow, lynchings, etc. Ball's (political science, Univ. of Vermont) study contains more legal lingo, which makes for a less interesting read, while Williams's portrait is more revealing of the private side of the justice.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, David K. Shipler
The book is a strong piece of journalism crammed with fascinating detail, done in an unassuming style driven by the factual narrative.


The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, Linda Mathews
Williams' command of the court years seems shaky, especially compared to his smoothly entertaining, sometimes riveting account of the justice's earlier career. He omits some of the justice's significant 1st Amendment opinions and compresses some masterful dissents on school busing and affirmative action that deserve more attention. And Williams never considers what might have happened if Marshall, so politically attuned as a lawyer, had been willing to horse trade and compromise on the bench.


From Booklist
In this saga of the U.S. quest for what it has yet to achieve--peaceful racial coexistence--Marshall is presented as a revolutionary "of grand vision." Williams renders an exceptional biography, inclusive of Marshall's vanities and warts. He opens with Marshall as the first black solicitor general, engaged with President Lyndon Johnson in a cat-and-mouse game on his possible appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Williams draws on the ironies of the meeting: two southerners from humble backgrounds, both hard-drinking, somewhat socially crude, apparently mutually respectful despite their positions on opposite sides of the racial divide. From this dramatic beginning, Williams traces Marshall's life from his ascension, to his deflation, and subsequent redemption. At the turn of the century, in the relatively racially enlightened Baltimore, Marshall's status as a light-skinned, middle-class black person informed his worldview. Rejected by the University of Maryland Law School based on his color, Marshall was accepted at Howard University. His awakened racial consciousness transformed him from an undisciplined prankster to a brilliant student. After a short-lived career in private practice, Marshall entered his natural niche as an attorney for the NAACP, where he worked with others to lay the foundation for the civil rights movement. Though Marshall reached legendary status, generational discord during the civil rights era caused most baby boomers to identify with such personalities as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, or Stokely Carmichael, for whom Marshall had little respect. But his symbiotic relationship with J. Edgar Hoover raised some questions and may reflect a low transition point. And his experience of 24 years on the High Court revealed that the failure of the integration strategy was not caused primarily by the misdirection of the black power movement but by the substantial and powerful national resistance to the ideals of integration. Yet Marshall's legal feats remain substantial. This is a must-read for all Americans and others concerned with the struggle for civil and individual rights. Vernon Ford

FROM OUR EDITORS

Thurgood Marshall is remembered by many as a rather stern, gruff Supreme Court justice, but he was also a courageous young lawyer who took on institutional segregation and racism, winning the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, and a witty, charismatic man-about-town who lived life with gusto and was often seen in the company of prizefighter Joe Louis, singer Cab Calloway, and other leading lights of the African-American community. Williams explores the nature of Marshall's involvements with such prominent civil-rights activists as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Robert F. Kennedy, and his secret dealings with FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover -- a relationship that is revealed here for the very first time.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Thurgood Marshall stands today as the great architect of American race relations, having expanded the foundation of individual rights for all Americans. His victory in the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, the landmark Supreme Court case outlawing school segregation, would have made him a historic figure even if he had not gone on to become the first African-American appointed to the Supreme Court. Remembered as a gruff, aloof figure, Marshall in fact had great charisma and a large appetite for life. Away from the courtroom, he was a glamorous figure in Harlem circles, known as a man-about-town who socialized with prizefighter Joe Louis, singer Cab Calloway, and other black luminaries. He lived in every decade of the century and knew every president from Franklin Roosevelt to Bill Clinton, becoming a respected member of Washington's power elite, known for his savvy and quick wit. But beneath Marshall's charm was a hard-nosed drive to change America that led to surprising clashes with Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and Malcolm X. Most intriguing of all was Marshall's secret and controversial relationship with FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, revealed here for the first time.

FROM THE CRITICS

Newsweek

Revelatory.

Los Angeles Times

Riveting.

David J. Garrow - Washington Monthly

His portrait of Marshall is rich and valuable.

Ronald K. L. Collins - Washington Post Book World

Thurgood Marshall is remarkable in its vivid and detailed account of its subject....To read this book is to learn how a great lawyer can bring about great social changes and yet remain within the law.

Richard Bernstein - The New York Times

...[T]he first major biography of Marshall....his text is sprinkled with Marshall's own breezy comments on key incidents in his life....The Marshall who emerges...is in many ways an American revolutionary...but a more conservative revolutionary that his common image would suggest....Marshall's life, in short, was a seminal one for 20th-century American history, and it is well told in Mr. Williams' readable and important book. Read all 15 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Williams gives readers a dynamic work to savor and study. — Bob Dole