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Rating: 
Summary: Chilling Indictment
Review: An Act Of State--The Execution Of Martin Luther King--is a chilling indictment of the deadly madness that was rampant through American Society in the 1960s. The book systematically overturns the Government's ... case against James Earl Ray as Martin Luther King's assassin. Instead, it paints a series of powerful vignettes that appear to implicate various agencies of the Federal Government, elements of of the Memphis Police Department, other of the City's Municipal units, and pieces of the Carlos Marcello Mob in New Orleans, in planning and covering up Dr. King's tragic murder. This crime robbed the nation of its greatest leader for social justice in the twentieth century--a loss we as a nation may never recoup. Dr. Pepper relentlessly assembles a body of evidence: circumstantial, eye witness, and admissible hearsay that would prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt before an impartial court of public opinion. And perhaps this is the most haunting aspect of the tragic murder of an American icon:How free are we as a people and a culture when the truth cannot be told? How free are we when evidence and news is managed and withheld? How far our separation from the Body Of Laws we celebrate in our flag, anthems, hymns, and pledges?Dare I whisper: far. Bob Lupo, author, A Buffalo's Revenge, and Extremities-4.
Rating:
Summary: If a tree falls in the forest...
Review: I found this book to be incredibly enlightening. Unless you still believe in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and Oswald's Magic Bullet, you will most likely be impressed by the evidence that William Pepper has uncovered and laid out in exhaustive detail in this book.
If nothing else, "An Act of State" sheds more light on the Martin Luther King who had so much to offer after the "I Have a Dream" speech, and why he was considered so dangerous by so many people.
William Pepper's own words about democracy and the destiny of the U.S.A. are also quite thought-provoking, as well as being appropriate to the material he presents.
Read this book!!
Rating: 
Summary: A Clouded Light
Review: I'm new to the details of the King assassination, and though I lived through that period the details, as I recall, were never made clear unlike the previous JFK murder. It was pretty clear, however, that the killing was a coordinated effort by shadowy background forces, and not even the government pressed its usual lone assassin case very hard. The result was a lot of loose ends awaiting real investigation. This is Pepper's second book on the topic. I wish I had read the first one before picking up this one, because An Act of State does not serve well as an introduction. Instead of summarizing the official story and introducing the principals, the opening chapters plunge us into subsequent developments, which for newcomers like myself risks confusion from the outset. Moreover the work as a whole is neither well organized nor cogently edited creating additional obstacles for the uninitiated. Nonetheless, there are so many fascinating factual aspects brought to light by Pepper, that the book stands as a must read for those interested in America's hidden history. So for those with a skimpy background such as myself, either prep with a better intoduction or be prepared to sort through as best you can. The results speak volumes.
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Summary: True and important history - not widely known
Review: This book is a highly convincing and highly shocking history of the assassination of Martin Luther King. The book proves beyond any shadow of doubt that James Earl Ray did not do it. After reading it and telling several friends about it. I found that none of my African-American friends were surprised (I am Caucasian). One friend said "Black people have known for years that it wasn't Ray. . . . Coretta Scott King and Dexter publicly forgave him." It was a great book for clearing up some of my own misconceptions that were based on mainstream news of the period. I was eight years old the day it happend. I watched the news and saw the grief in my father face. I now enjoy seeing the process of the setting the record straight.
Rating:
Summary: News fit to print, but...
Review: This is the account of King lawyer William Pepper's pursuit of the facts in the King assassination, and his denouement of the evidence, centering on the successful civil suit of Lloyd Jowers, a local resident with a business across the street from the motel murder site and with a connection to the murder, which led to the unraveling. The credentials of the ringleaders and perpetrates are very impressive indeed and include J. Edgar ('the' J. Edgar),the CIA, FBI, Memphis Police Department and assorted sordid Mob hoodlums. That's quite a team. But then the motive appears to have centered on the decision by Martin Luther King to bring the focus of his movement on poverty and the Vietnam War. It took the jury one hour to decide that:
1. Yes--Lloyd Jowers participated in a conspiracy to do harm to Martin Luther King2. Yes--Others including governmental agencies were parties to this conspiracy as alleged by the defendant.
This should have been headline news, but the story never survived, and it wasn't news to me until I stumbled on the book in the library, and I read a lot of books.
I hope you find out too.
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