Description
Book SynopsisAlthough the heroism of last century's freedom marches will long be credited for ending racial discrimination, civil rights legislation owes much to work done more quietly in the district courtrooms of the South. This book helps in understanding how the Voting Rights Act came about by focusing on several key cases in Alabama.
Trade ReviewLandsberg's memoir and history of the Justice Department's voting litigation in Elmore, Perry, and Sumter Counties is a richly valuable addition to our understanding of the origins of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. David J. Garrow, author of Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference ""Before Martin Luther King's celebrated campaign for voting rights in Selma in 1965, the Department of Justice had more quietly paved the way for federal legislation to enfranchise African Americans in the South. Landsberg's book uncovers an important dimension behind that pioneering legislation."" Steven F. Lawson, author of Civil Rights Crossroads: Nation, Community, and the Black Freedom Movement
