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Threads of Peace: How Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Changed the World
“Inviting and original.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Mohandas Gandhi and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. both shook and changed the world in their quest for peace among all people, but what threads connected these great activists together in their shared goal of social revolution?
A lawyer and activist, tiny of stature with giant ideas, in British-ruled India at the beginning of the 20th century.
A minister from Georgia with a thunderous voice and hopes for peace at the height of the civil rights movement in America.
Born more than a half-century apart, with seemingly little in common except one shared wish, both would go on to be icons of peaceful resistance and human decency. Both preached love for all human beings, regardless of race or religion. Both believed that freedom and justice were won by not one, but many. Both met their ends in the most unpeaceful of ways—assassination.
But what led them down the path of peace? How did their experiences parallel...and diverge? Threads of Peace keenly examines and celebrates these extraordinary activists’ lives, the threads that connect them, and the threads of peace they laid throughout the world, for us to pick up, and weave together.
Mohandas Gandhi and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. both shook and changed the world in their quest for peace among all people, but what threads connected these great activists together in their shared goal of social revolution?
A lawyer and activist, tiny of stature with giant ideas, in British-ruled India at the beginning of the 20th century.
A minister from Georgia with a thunderous voice and hopes for peace at the height of the civil rights movement in America.
Born more than a half-century apart, with seemingly little in common except one shared wish, both would go on to be icons of peaceful resistance and human decency. Both preached love for all human beings, regardless of race or religion. Both believed that freedom and justice were won by not one, but many. Both met their ends in the most unpeaceful of ways—assassination.
But what led them down the path of peace? How did their experiences parallel...and diverge? Threads of Peace keenly examines and celebrates these extraordinary activists’ lives, the threads that connect them, and the threads of peace they laid throughout the world, for us to pick up, and weave together.
336 pages, Hardcover
Published August 17, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 12, 2021
In the Author’s Note, Krishnaswami notes, “Then, in 2008, I read The End of Empires: African Americans and India by historian and African American studies professor Gerald Horne. It was an eye-opener. I was born in India and I’d lived in the United States for nearly thirty years, but in neither country had I ever learned this history.” As I’ve noted over and over again when I review nonfiction or historical fiction, it is only through brilliant books that I have learned true history as my history classes were so US-centered that we hardly learn anything other than basic history about the world and it is so white-washed that even when slavery or Civil Rights is covered, it very much focuses on the successes. It is because of this that I am so thankful that books like this exist and allow me to share the erased history with students. Because even with Martin Luther King Jr., who all are familiar with, there is so much of him and his journey and point of view that are erased in history books.
Everything I learned about India’s history was from some books before I read this: The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani, I am Gandhi (both picture book & graphic novel) by Brad Meltzer, and A Taste of Freedom: Gandhi and the Great Salt March by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. That was all of my prior knowledge, so I was taken aback by the breadth of India’s history that I was ignorant about. Krishnaswami did a brilliant job telling about Gandhi’s personal life while also teaching about Indian history. In the second half of the book, we switch to Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and the racial injustices happening in the United States. Again, the book focuses not only on King’s personal life but the history of the US at the time as well. I learned so much in this book. It made me think, reflect, get angry, cry, and have purpose for continuing with a focus on anti-racism.
Uma Krishnaswami does a beautiful job using the imagery of threads figuratively throughout this book to tie Gandhi and King through their views on peace and nonviolence as well as Gandhi and King to the histories they helped shape.
Full review with teaching tools: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=2...
Everything I learned about India’s history was from some books before I read this: The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani, I am Gandhi (both picture book & graphic novel) by Brad Meltzer, and A Taste of Freedom: Gandhi and the Great Salt March by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. That was all of my prior knowledge, so I was taken aback by the breadth of India’s history that I was ignorant about. Krishnaswami did a brilliant job telling about Gandhi’s personal life while also teaching about Indian history. In the second half of the book, we switch to Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and the racial injustices happening in the United States. Again, the book focuses not only on King’s personal life but the history of the US at the time as well. I learned so much in this book. It made me think, reflect, get angry, cry, and have purpose for continuing with a focus on anti-racism.
Uma Krishnaswami does a beautiful job using the imagery of threads figuratively throughout this book to tie Gandhi and King through their views on peace and nonviolence as well as Gandhi and King to the histories they helped shape.
Full review with teaching tools: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=2...
August 18, 2021
Richie’s Picks: THREADS OF PEACE: HOW MOHANDAS GANDHI AND MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CHANGED THE WORLD by Uma Krishnaswami, Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy, August 2021, 336p., ISBN: 978-1-4814-1678-8
“It isn’t nice to block the doorway
It isn’t nice to go to jail
There are nicer ways to do it
But the nice ways always fail
It isn’t nice, it isn’t nice
You told us once, you told us twice
But if that is Freedom’s price
We don’t mind (no, no, no!)”
--Malvina Reynolds (1964)
“In 1906, a new law in the Transvaal province of South Africa called Gandhi to action once again. The Asiatic Registration Act required Indians and other Asians to register their fingerprints and carry registration certificates or face deportation. Those affected were outraged.
At a mass meeting at the Empire Theatre in Johannesburg, Gandhi laid out a new approach to resistance. He called upon the Indians to defy the law in an entirely new way. No one should take up arms. Rather, they should simply disobey the unfair law. If they were arrested, they should go cheerfully to jail.
It was a serious thing to ask, and he knew it. He was asking them to disobey the authorities, much as young Kastur had disobeyed him years ago when he had been unfair. Only this enemy had far greater power than a foolish young husband. In this new movement, Gandhi was asking for heroes.
He called his passive resistance strategy satyagraha, or ‘holding fast to truth.’ Truth in Gandhi’s mind equaled justice, and every waking minute, justice is what he sought. He even traveled to London, hoping to persuade the British to reject the unfair law. He met with a high-ranking official named Winston Churchill but returned to Johannesburg disappointed. Instead of giving up, however, Gandhi launched the promised protests.
Thousands of Indians went on strike. They refused to register with the authorities. Many were arrested, The jails filled rapidly. Gandhi received his own sentence in a courtroom where he had once argued a case as a lawyer.”
The first section of THREADS OF PEACE serves as the best bio for young people on Mahātmā Gandhi that I’ve ever read. It also serves as the introduction to the author’s thesis--how Gandhi inspired America’s great hero, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This connect-the-dots title is fresh and sophisticated. In the same manner as one better grasps U.S. constitutional history by learning the underlying philosophies propounded by Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau, the modern U.S. Civil Rights Movement is better understood after one reads how MLK studied Gandhi, who had been moved by the writings of Tolstoy. Tolstoy, in turn, had been inspired by the New Testament lessons of Jesus.
The book's second section is both a biography of MLK and an overview of the American Civil Rights Movement. In it, we learn that Dr. King wasn’t necessarily the best student when he first entered college. But he picked up the pace as he went along. We come to understand how he became inspired by Gandhi’s good works and writings, and how he came to employ Gandhi’s philosophies to significantly impact U.S. history.
“King was the orator that Gandhi never became. As the civil rights movement went on, King came to rely less on Gandhi’s writing and more on his own interpretations and his conscience. Still. one thing is clear. It fell to King to help fulfill Gandhi’s prophecy, made to Howard Thurman and his group, long ago in a tent in India: Black Americans would deliver ‘the unadulterated message of nonviolence’ to the world.”
The book’s third section--”When the Threads Break”-- begins with brief biographies of the two assassins who robbed the world of these immortal peacemakers. Gandhi was shot to death by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist who had twice previously nearly succeeded in killing him. Dr. King was shot to death by James Earl Ray, a career criminal/escaped convict/white supremacist who spent time working on George Wallace’s segregationist presidential campaign. The section goes on to discuss the ways in which Black Americans continue to be victimized by prejudice and a failure of the country to address issues like fair housing.
Throughout, the book is enriched by a breadth of notable, high-quality photos, and interesting sidebars. The writing is sufficiently straightforward to be accessible to plenty of 10-year-olds, and the content is rich enough to share it with teens.
As the recent Black Lives Matter movement has laid bare, significant changes are needed to achieve real equality in America. THREADS OF PEACE is moving and informative, and it has the ability to inspire potential young activists to help craft the next chapters in our history.
I trust that the Sibert committee will be discussing this one at length.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
https://twitter.com/richiespicks
richiepartington@gmail.com
“It isn’t nice to block the doorway
It isn’t nice to go to jail
There are nicer ways to do it
But the nice ways always fail
It isn’t nice, it isn’t nice
You told us once, you told us twice
But if that is Freedom’s price
We don’t mind (no, no, no!)”
--Malvina Reynolds (1964)
“In 1906, a new law in the Transvaal province of South Africa called Gandhi to action once again. The Asiatic Registration Act required Indians and other Asians to register their fingerprints and carry registration certificates or face deportation. Those affected were outraged.
At a mass meeting at the Empire Theatre in Johannesburg, Gandhi laid out a new approach to resistance. He called upon the Indians to defy the law in an entirely new way. No one should take up arms. Rather, they should simply disobey the unfair law. If they were arrested, they should go cheerfully to jail.
It was a serious thing to ask, and he knew it. He was asking them to disobey the authorities, much as young Kastur had disobeyed him years ago when he had been unfair. Only this enemy had far greater power than a foolish young husband. In this new movement, Gandhi was asking for heroes.
He called his passive resistance strategy satyagraha, or ‘holding fast to truth.’ Truth in Gandhi’s mind equaled justice, and every waking minute, justice is what he sought. He even traveled to London, hoping to persuade the British to reject the unfair law. He met with a high-ranking official named Winston Churchill but returned to Johannesburg disappointed. Instead of giving up, however, Gandhi launched the promised protests.
Thousands of Indians went on strike. They refused to register with the authorities. Many were arrested, The jails filled rapidly. Gandhi received his own sentence in a courtroom where he had once argued a case as a lawyer.”
The first section of THREADS OF PEACE serves as the best bio for young people on Mahātmā Gandhi that I’ve ever read. It also serves as the introduction to the author’s thesis--how Gandhi inspired America’s great hero, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This connect-the-dots title is fresh and sophisticated. In the same manner as one better grasps U.S. constitutional history by learning the underlying philosophies propounded by Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau, the modern U.S. Civil Rights Movement is better understood after one reads how MLK studied Gandhi, who had been moved by the writings of Tolstoy. Tolstoy, in turn, had been inspired by the New Testament lessons of Jesus.
The book's second section is both a biography of MLK and an overview of the American Civil Rights Movement. In it, we learn that Dr. King wasn’t necessarily the best student when he first entered college. But he picked up the pace as he went along. We come to understand how he became inspired by Gandhi’s good works and writings, and how he came to employ Gandhi’s philosophies to significantly impact U.S. history.
“King was the orator that Gandhi never became. As the civil rights movement went on, King came to rely less on Gandhi’s writing and more on his own interpretations and his conscience. Still. one thing is clear. It fell to King to help fulfill Gandhi’s prophecy, made to Howard Thurman and his group, long ago in a tent in India: Black Americans would deliver ‘the unadulterated message of nonviolence’ to the world.”
The book’s third section--”When the Threads Break”-- begins with brief biographies of the two assassins who robbed the world of these immortal peacemakers. Gandhi was shot to death by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist who had twice previously nearly succeeded in killing him. Dr. King was shot to death by James Earl Ray, a career criminal/escaped convict/white supremacist who spent time working on George Wallace’s segregationist presidential campaign. The section goes on to discuss the ways in which Black Americans continue to be victimized by prejudice and a failure of the country to address issues like fair housing.
Throughout, the book is enriched by a breadth of notable, high-quality photos, and interesting sidebars. The writing is sufficiently straightforward to be accessible to plenty of 10-year-olds, and the content is rich enough to share it with teens.
As the recent Black Lives Matter movement has laid bare, significant changes are needed to achieve real equality in America. THREADS OF PEACE is moving and informative, and it has the ability to inspire potential young activists to help craft the next chapters in our history.
I trust that the Sibert committee will be discussing this one at length.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
https://twitter.com/richiespicks
richiepartington@gmail.com
September 10, 2021
I always knew that Martin Luther King Jr. use of civil disobedience during the Civil Rights Movement was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, but that was pretty much it. Reading Uma Krishnaswami's new book about these two great men made me realize how little I actually knew about either one of them and just how extensive their impact on the world was and still is. As young men, both Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. faced similar instances of racial discrimination that led them into a peaceful fight for equality for all people.
As part of the merchant caste in Hindu society, Gandhi was able to go to school and get a good education. And following tradition, his married a 13 year-old girl named Kasturba in a union that had been arranged by his parents. Ironically, it may been the headstong Kasturba who first planted the seeds of passive resistance in his mind when she quietly refused to bend to his authoritarian demands that she obey him unquestioningly. Later, Gandhi's ideas about nonviolence may have been further influenced after reading Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau while imprisoned in South Africa for urging passive resistance to the ruling British among working Indians who were required by the 1906 Asiatic Registration Act to be fingerprinted and carry registration cards or be deported. He called this "passive resistance strategy satyagraha or holding fast to truth." (pg 67)
Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in the south, in a world divided into white and "colored." At a young age, Martin learned to stay away from angry white people, but it was Martin's father who refused to accept the discriminatory system under which they were forced to live, imparting the values of dignity, self-respect and resistance to injustice that became guiding principles in Martin's life. Later, studying to become a minister, Martin began to read Walter Rauschenbusch, a theologian who believed that not just people's souls should be ministered to, but their bodies as well. Martin realized that he also needed to be concerned with unemployment, living conditions and economic insecurity in the lives of America's marginalized populations. Another influence was J.J. Muste, activist and clergyman, who believed in pacifism and peacefully resisting injustice. "Could nonviolent resistance ever be practical?" Martin wondered. (pg 135)
The first section of Threads of Peace is devoted to Gandhi and his life, the second section covers the life of MLK Jr, but it is the third section that is so difficult to read as it cover the assassination of both men. But, as Krishnaswami shows, their untimely deaths hardly cut the threads to peace and equality that both men had worked so hard for during their lifetimes.
Accompanying her well-researched biographies of Gandhi and MLK Jr. are copious photographs and documents, along with text boxes give more information. The author's text is simple, straightforward, and follows a linear timeline. Back matter includes an Author's Note, a Timeline for both Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., a Glossary, an excellent Bibliography for further reading, and a list of Sources used.
This histories of Gandhi and MLK Jr., a lawyer and a minister, makes for fascinating reading, all the more so because their stories a real and still resonate in today's world. I think this 1968 cartoon by Bill Mauldin of the Chicago Sun-Times says it all (pg291). Fifty-two years later, I personally witnessed an example of this in the spring, summer, and fall of 2020 when I joined supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement who were peacefully protesting down the street from me every evening.
As part of the merchant caste in Hindu society, Gandhi was able to go to school and get a good education. And following tradition, his married a 13 year-old girl named Kasturba in a union that had been arranged by his parents. Ironically, it may been the headstong Kasturba who first planted the seeds of passive resistance in his mind when she quietly refused to bend to his authoritarian demands that she obey him unquestioningly. Later, Gandhi's ideas about nonviolence may have been further influenced after reading Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau while imprisoned in South Africa for urging passive resistance to the ruling British among working Indians who were required by the 1906 Asiatic Registration Act to be fingerprinted and carry registration cards or be deported. He called this "passive resistance strategy satyagraha or holding fast to truth." (pg 67)
Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in the south, in a world divided into white and "colored." At a young age, Martin learned to stay away from angry white people, but it was Martin's father who refused to accept the discriminatory system under which they were forced to live, imparting the values of dignity, self-respect and resistance to injustice that became guiding principles in Martin's life. Later, studying to become a minister, Martin began to read Walter Rauschenbusch, a theologian who believed that not just people's souls should be ministered to, but their bodies as well. Martin realized that he also needed to be concerned with unemployment, living conditions and economic insecurity in the lives of America's marginalized populations. Another influence was J.J. Muste, activist and clergyman, who believed in pacifism and peacefully resisting injustice. "Could nonviolent resistance ever be practical?" Martin wondered. (pg 135)
The first section of Threads of Peace is devoted to Gandhi and his life, the second section covers the life of MLK Jr, but it is the third section that is so difficult to read as it cover the assassination of both men. But, as Krishnaswami shows, their untimely deaths hardly cut the threads to peace and equality that both men had worked so hard for during their lifetimes.
Accompanying her well-researched biographies of Gandhi and MLK Jr. are copious photographs and documents, along with text boxes give more information. The author's text is simple, straightforward, and follows a linear timeline. Back matter includes an Author's Note, a Timeline for both Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., a Glossary, an excellent Bibliography for further reading, and a list of Sources used.
This histories of Gandhi and MLK Jr., a lawyer and a minister, makes for fascinating reading, all the more so because their stories a real and still resonate in today's world. I think this 1968 cartoon by Bill Mauldin of the Chicago Sun-Times says it all (pg291). Fifty-two years later, I personally witnessed an example of this in the spring, summer, and fall of 2020 when I joined supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement who were peacefully protesting down the street from me every evening.
November 8, 2021
Krishnaswami's powerful telling of the intertwining of Mohandas Gandhi's and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s lives and causes makes for a important and engaging read. The book begins with a significant experience in the life of each man. King's first public speech at the age of 15 and Gandhi's experience getting kicked off a train in South Africa. Those two experiences helped set the stage for what would become each man's life work. The author than takes us into the lives of each man. The first section follows Gandhi from birth to assassination before switching to King's birth to assassination. After highlighting key events and people in their lives the book ends by focusing on the assassins and the aftermath of their deaths. The last chapter focuses on the movements that each man helped lead and that each movement continues on today.
This excellent book is well-written and flows beautifully allowing the reader to focus on the content rather than the words. For such a long book, the author keeps the book compelling and the pace brisk. With carefully chosen photographs and informative sidebars, this book is an important addition to middle school and high school collections about these two important men. The focus of the book remains on the men and their leadership role in the movements they each helped found. Personal details and family life are covered briefly. A standout book on an important and relevant topic and an important reminder that the legacy we leave doesn't end when we die.
This excellent book is well-written and flows beautifully allowing the reader to focus on the content rather than the words. For such a long book, the author keeps the book compelling and the pace brisk. With carefully chosen photographs and informative sidebars, this book is an important addition to middle school and high school collections about these two important men. The focus of the book remains on the men and their leadership role in the movements they each helped found. Personal details and family life are covered briefly. A standout book on an important and relevant topic and an important reminder that the legacy we leave doesn't end when we die.
December 6, 2021
An insightful, reflective narrative revealing the parallels and divergences between the nonviolent resistance philosophies of MLK and Gandhi. Includes an author's note, parallel time lines, and a glossary, and extensive bibliography.
April 19, 2024
What I observed from this book: both of these men professed peace and got murdered.
If that got them both knocked off, then what is the next best move?
Maybe my initial acquaintance with the material was the incorrect stance to take.
I don't know after all.
If that got them both knocked off, then what is the next best move?
Maybe my initial acquaintance with the material was the incorrect stance to take.
I don't know after all.
April 21, 2024
There was so much in this book I never knew. I now understand the connection between Gandhi and King. Looking forward to discussing this book with an employee group. Sobering, eye-opening read; I highly recommend.
November 7, 2021
Excellent, until the last chapter when they started talking about BLM
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2022
These men never met, yet their lives are tied together. And the threads that connect them are laid down for us to pick up and weave together.
February 6, 2022
Important book that I would like to share with everyone.
August 25, 2022
Amazing book, a must read for students wanting to understand racial discrimination and the sacrifices made by MK Gandhi and MLK Jr.
May 19, 2024
So well done. Info on Gandhi and King that I had never heard before. The author parallels their lives and shows the impact Gandhi had on King, and how King extended Gandhi's ideas.
Highly recimmend!
Highly recimmend!
December 29, 2025
Recommended by a librarian in my local library! It was worth the read! Mahatma Gandhi’s life, his commitment to humanity, his great displeasure with injustice led him to start a non-violent movement that was effective worldwide. The book goes to show how he affected change primarily in India, South Africa and America, but his influence is felt in other countries as well where colonialism and oppression of a people group are brutal! The author threads Gandhi’s influence to Martin Luther King Jr. and we are able to see how his teachings, together with the bible, give MLK Jr. and other Civil Rights Activists the strength to keep fighting Jim Crow laws! I am grateful to this two individuals, as well as so many others, who have fought righteously so that I can be able to raise my black sons in here. Yet, I know the war is not over and true peace has not yet been achieved- we are not yet free but I have hope to sustain me through the fight.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews