From original German text entitled GegenSpieler (Fischer Verlag, 2001) with parts rewritten for an American audience; large parts of the introduction and the final chapter are completely new--Provided by publisher.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X have come to symbolize the two primary strands of black political thought during the civil rights movement. As Henry Louis Gates Jr. points out in his foreword, the parallels and divergences between the two men remain striking. This compares and contrasts these two giants in a fascinating dual biography. In a crisp, fascinating narrative, it reveals the interconnectedness of their goals, their visions, and their legacies. It also suggests what might have been were it not for a pair of assassins' bullets.