Includes bibliographical references and index.

Pt. 1. Genesis -- A point that everyone should consider carefully -- "This is not getting any better" -- What it takes to begin to live -- What was promising and impossible -- pt. 2. Project confrontation -- Departures -- Arrival -- It begins -- Who will rise from the pews? -- Explanations and accusations -- Optics, optics, optics -- "I've got it!" -- pt. 3. The good Friday test -- "...The righteous are bold as a lion" -- When bull said no to all that -- The counter to the countermove -- Upping the stakes -- The garden of Gethsemane -- The good Friday test -- "Why have you forsaken me?" -- pt. 4. The writing on scraps of newsprint -- The hole -- Who cares about prison reform now? -- "This will be one of the most historic documents..." -- pt. 5. "...and a child shall lead them" -- The prophet returns with his wife -- Emergence -- The indecent proposal -- The prophet and the playboy -- The end of the "endless" deliberation -- pt. 6. D-day and beyond -- D-day -- Double D-day -- The view from Washington -- Burke goes to Birmingham -- How not to negotiate with the king -- And lo, the pharaoh shall weep -- Marshall's interpretation -- Unintended outcomes -- "Martin, this is it!" -- "Put some water on the Reverend" -- This time, something new -- Wishful thinking? -- The seats at the table -- The betrayal -- The unraveling -- The younger brother's complex -- "What I'm about to tell you will not be repeated" -- Wrestling with its conscience -- pt. 7. "But for Birmingham..." -- "This whole town has gone berserk" -- Shaping the postscript -- Considering the impossible -- The gathering at 24 Central Park South -- God's beneficence -- The brother's message -- The speech -- "But for Birmingham...".