Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His A

[RamboLiberal]

It's bold to start an account of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. without a single mention of James Earl Ray. But in Hellhound on His Trail, Ray's absence is essential--in his place, Hampton Sides traces the alter egos Ray created after escaping from prison and beginning his haphazard journey toward Memphis. Sides meticulously constructs parallel portraits of two very different men--one, the larger-than-life figurehead of the Civil Rights movement; the other, a nondescript loner with a spurious and violent history, whose identity was as fluid as his motives. The narrative builds to the staggering and heartbreaking moment of King's assassination, then races on through the immediate fallout: the worldwide manhunt led by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI; Ray's nearly successful attempt to flee to Rhodesia; and the riots that erupted throughout the United States as racial tensions reached a breaking point. Sides's storytelling packs a visceral punch, and in Hellhound on His Trail, he crafts an authoritative and riveting account of two intersecting lives that altered the course of American history. --Lynette Mong

http://www.amazon.com/Hellhound-His-Trail-Stalking-International/dp/0385523920/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273011139&sr=8-1

[Kceres]

1. I finished the book last night. It reads much like a novel.

I grew up in Memphis and was nine-years-old when Dr. King was assassinated. While reading the book I realized how many of my memories of the tragedy were wrong. Sides does a good job of trying to dispel a conspiracy theory even after detailing how much Hoover hated King. I know the King family believes there was a conspiracy, so I'd really like to know how the King's feel about the book.

[RamboLiberal]

2. I saw a bit of a PBS special last night based on this book

The PBS program was entitled Roads to Memphis. It was fascinating and there was a lot of info in it I didn't remember, especially related to Ray and how he was captured and that he intended to hideout in Rhodesia which was controlled by white supremecists at that time.