Acknowledgements Table of Contents List of Illustrations Introduction: Carrie's Rebellion Chapter 1: Before Montgomery Chapter 2: Communities Organizing for Change: New South Cities Chapter 3: Communities Organizing for Change along the New South-Old South Divide Chapter 4: Organizing in "the American Congo": Mississippi's Freedom Summer and Its Aftermath Chapter 5: Freedom Movements in the North and the Quest for Black Power Chapter 6: Legacies: "Freedom is a Constant Struggle" Notes and References Further Readings

With this latest work, Holt envisions a more complete Civil Rights Movement, one that reveals exactly what was at stake for Black Americans at the micro and macro levels of the time in their quest for equality...This book holds up a mirror to a pivotal, progressive, and painful time in this nation's past, which is precisely what Americans need more of right now.

"With this latest work, Holt envisions a more complete Civil Rights Movement, one that reveals exactly what was at stake for Black Americans at the micro and macro levels of the time in their quest for equality...This book holds up a mirror to a pivotal, progressive, and painful time in this nation's past, which is precisely what Americans need more of right now." -- A. O. Yeboah, CHOICE "Despite their brevity, the six chapters offer a wealth of information and interpretive insight on the nature of the post-World War II African American freedom struggle. Holt's command of the secondary literature is sure-handed and reliable, and his conclusions about the complexities of racial discrimination and resistance bear the mark of a veteran scholar at the top of his game. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a more valuable or thought-provoking introduction to the history of a movement that changed all of our lives." -- Raymond Arsenault , Journal of Southern History "A concise, lucid and well-balanced account by one of America's best historians of the topic." -- Tony Barber, Financial Times "A slender but potent history of the civil rights movement... Essential for students of American history as well as activists in the ongoing struggle for civil rights for all." --Kirkus, Starred Review "Even readers well-versed in the subject will learn from Holt's close attention to lesser-known figures, events, and organizations. This well-informed history casts the civil rights struggle in a new light."--Publishers Weekly "A brief if full picture of the civil rights movement in America."-- Library Journal "Thomas C. Holt's The Movement is a succinct and powerful book... A skilled historian whose powers are on full display in The Movement, he knows the moments when it is best to let the participants themselves summarize the extraordinary power of their struggle."-- The American Scholar "A succinct but nuanced overview of the origins, objectives and achievements of the civil rights movement ... Holt pays particular attention to the ordinary people and communities who took significant risks to make up the body of the movement." -- Ellie Cawthorne, BBC History Magazine "[This] concise but comprehensive history of the US civil rights movement pulls off an ambitious balancing act, placing the African-American fight for equality within its wider political and social context - all without losing sight of the campaigners on the frontline ... a hugely humanistic overview." -- BBC History Revealed "A bold and vivid story of the everyday human made heroic... Concise and riveting, The Movement is an excellent work for those seeking an examination of the US civil rights movement from a perspective somewhat rare in more mainstream histories. And for those seeking a deeper involvement, it is a good introduction. " -- Ron Jacobs, Morning Star "Covering less discussed moments from America's struggle for equality, The Movement is a nuanced history that takes layered ideologies and obscured figures into account."-- Foreword Reviews "Rooted in the author's personal experience of the movement, this book is a marvelous balance between economy of expression and complexity of thought. Even those well-versed in recent movement scholarship will learn something from this engaging and challenging work. Some parts of the history are more telling than others and Holt has an unerring eye for just those parts."--Charles M. Payne, author of I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle "Thomas C. Holt's slim volume, The Movement: The African American Struggle for Civil Rights, achieves in just 120 pages of text a comprehensiveness that belies its length... a fascinating breakdown of the movement's phases as well as a look at the groundwork that made the successes possible... The Movement lends shape and clarity to a messy, glorious period in American history."--Washington Post "As concise in its telling as it is riveting, The Movement is an excellent work for those seeking an examination of the US civil rights movement that looks through a viewfinder somewhat rare in more mainstream histories."--CounterPunch "An essential and readable primer on the mid-20th-century civil rights movement... Holt adroitly traces the evolution of activism throughout time and across regions."--The New York Times Book Review "Thomas Holt's book on the history of the Civil Rights era, The Movement: The African American Struggle for Civil Rights is a valuable and incisive work that covers the broad era of civil rights in an accessible but also rigorous manner...The Movement is a valuable resource for thinking through the Civil Rights era and its impact on American history." -- Robert Green, Clafin University, USA, Journal of Contemporary History

Selling point: Provides an informed and nuanced understanding of the origins, character, and objectives of the civil rights movement Selling point: Emphasizes the aspirations and initiatives of the ordinary, grassroots people involved Selling point: Re-centers our understanding of the freedom struggle around the critical concept of "movement"

Thomas C. Holt is James Westfall Thompson Professor Emeritus of American and African American History at the University of Chicago and the author of Children of Fire: A History of African Americans and The Problem of Race in the Twenty-First Century.

Selling point: Provides an informed and nuanced understanding of the origins, character, and objectives of the civil rights movement Selling point: Emphasizes the aspirations and initiatives of the ordinary, grassroots people involved Selling point: Re-centers our understanding of the freedom struggle around the critical concept of "movement"