"James Earl Ray and Martin Luther King, Jr. had two very different life journeys -- but their paths fatally collide when Ray assassinates the world-renown civil rights leader. This book provides an inside look into both of their lives, the history of the time, and a blow-by-blow examination of the assassination and its aftermath."--Provided by publisher.

Prologue : "A sneeze meant death" -- PART ONE : Introduction to Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement -- 1865-1958 : Jim Crow America -- The early years -- 1955-1956 : Montgomery Bus Boycott -- 1959-1962 : On the rise: lunch counters, freedom riders, and Ole Miss -- 1963 : Tragedies and triumphs : protests in Birmingham, a letter from jail, and a march on Washington -- 1963, continued : disaster and hope : a bombing in Birmingham, the assassination of a president, and a new leader -- 1964 : From the Civil Rights Bill and the Nobel Prize to a murder and a slander -- 1965 : New challenges and warning signs : the assassination of Malcolm X, the battle for Selma, the Voting Rights Act, and the Watts Riot -- 1966 : A year of doubts and divisions : Chicago, Black Panthers, and militants -- 1967 : Splitting the movement and opposition to the Vietnam War -- PART TWO : A collision course. April 23, 1967 : A jail break -- 1968 : A very bad year -- The assassination -- PART THREE : Planning a murder -- March 30-31, 1968 : Momentous days -- April 1 and 2, 1968 : Countdown to Memphis -- April 3, 1968 : A great day--"I would like to live" -- April 4, 1968 : The last day -- PART FOUR : Manhunt! -- April 4 : Escaping Memphis -- April 4 : To the hospital -- April 4 : A hot tip and a hoax -- April 4 : Aftermath at the motel and across the nation -- April 5, 1968 : The FBI investigation -- April 9, 1968 : Farewell to a king -- April 16-20, 1968 : The assassin identified -- June 4-8, 1968 : Another assassination and an arrest -- A year like no other -- Epilogue.