This engaging comparative biography contrasts the lives, politics, and philosophies of the two major figure of the American civil rights era, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Examining issues of integration, non-violence, Black power, and resistance, the volume explores the similarities and differences in the two leaders' beliefs and discusses ways in which they grew closer together towards the end of their lives. The work explores the complex synthesis of the effects of their differing tactics and philosophies on the subsequent movement. Public intellectual Henry Louis Gates Jr. provides a forward. Waldschmidt-Nelson is a professor of American history at the University of Munich. This volume is the English version of an original German edition published in 2000 entitled Martin Luther King-Malcolm X: Gegenspieler. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)