The high point of the 1960s civil rights movement, Selma was a landmark achievement for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, religious activists from all over the country, and the brave citizens of Selma who made it happen. This watershed 1965 direct action campaign resulted in passage of the Voting Rights Act. 'Selma 1965," first published in 1974, is widely recognized as the most vivid and accurate account of the Selma movement for general readers. For this Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, it has been updated with an overview of the continuing struggles for justice and equality for all, both in Selma and across the Unites States. Charles Fager was a junior staff member for Dr. King's Southern Christian leadership Conference in 1965. Since then he has been a reporter, researcher, peace activist, and the author of numerous books. "A fascinating portrait of the most significant campaign of the civil rights movement. Charles Fager's Selma 1965 does more than any book I have read to bring that epoch back to life. The story of Selma is a rich, complex one, with important positive and negative lessons for anyone who cares about the art of political organizing. Fager's carefully-researched, precisely written book tells it with great clarity and power." - Washington Post Book World "One of the most notable studies of a social crisis to appear in recent years . . . .As reported in this temperate and balanced account, the victory was not an easy one." -Christian Century "Through graphic scenes and dramatic narration, Selma 1965, provides a fascinating, unforgettable portrait of the most significant campaign of the civil rights movement....His compelling work keeps Selma, 1965, firmly in our memories, our imaginations, and our hearts." -Stephen B. Oates, author, Let the Trumpet Sound, The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
About the Author: Chuck Fager is a writer, editor, publisher and peace activist. He was born in Kansas to a Catholic family, and raised on military bases. In high school, Fager left Catholicism, and for some years regarded himself as an atheist. However, he remained interested in religion, and was influenced by the work of C.G. Jung, who took religion seriously, if in an unorthodox way. Fager enrolled at Colorado State University in 1960. There he was in the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps at Colorado State University, where he won a medal as the Outstanding Freshman Cadet, and later commanded a prize-winning AFROTC drill team. However, by his senior year his interest in the Air Force had waned, and he left the ROTC. After leaving Colorado in late 1964, he completed a B.A. in Humanities from Colorado State University in 1967. While working in the civil rights movement as a junior member of Dr. Martin Luther King's staff, he encountered and later joined the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers. He performed alternative service as a conscientious objector to the military draft, and then attended Harvard Divinity School, mostly part-time, for four years, starting in 1968. In 1970, he resolved to pursue a full-time vocation, which he has never given up, publishing many books and articles while taking many different "day jobs" to support these projects. In late 2001, after the 9/11 attacks he became Director of Quaker House, a peace project near Fort Bragg in North Carolina that was very active through the Iraq & Afghanistan wars. He retired from Quaker House in 2012, and has since pursued various writing projects. Chuck has been married and divorced twice, has four children, and a growing number of grandchildren. He lives and writes in Durham, North Carolina.