Historians Look Back at Life and Career of Civil Rights Activist and Representative John Lewis in New Biography

'John Lewis: A Life' will look back on the late politician's career, from becoming a symbol of resistance after Selma's 'Bloody Sunday' to serving in the House of Representatives

Nearly four years after his death at 80 years old, a biographer is looking back on the life and career of civil rights activist and Georgia Representative John Lewis.

According to a press release from Simon & Schuster, Rutgers University history professor David Greenberg is set to publish a biography of Lewis titled John Lewis: A Life later this year.

Described as, "The definitive biography of a Civil Rights icon whose remarkable career spanned 60 years, from lunch counter sit-ins through Black Lives Matter," Greenberg's new book will tell the history of Lewis' career in politics and community organizing, beginning with his childhood in rural Alabama and ending with his service in the House of Representatives.

It will also recall Lewis' work as a Freedom Rider who helped with the integration of bus stations, a protestor who participated in sit-ins in Nashville and even his journey to becoming the youngest person to speak at the 1963 March on Washington. The book will also touch on one of the darkest moments of his career — when he was nearly beaten to death by Alabama state troopers in Selma during a march that would later become infamously named "Bloody Sunday."

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Greenberg, who has worked on histories of American political figures like former President Richard Nixon in Nixon’s Shadow: The History of an Image, will draw on interviews with Lewis "and hundreds of others who knew him at various stages of his life," including former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. The upcoming biography will also make use of never-before-seen FBI documents and footage of the late representative giving an interview from a hospital bed in the aftermath of the Selma beatings.

John Lewis: A Life will "[present] new details in the life of a man who lived with courage and conviction, and who resisted hating those who hated him," per the release.

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This isn't the first time writers have looked back on Lewis' 60-year career — in 2014, six years before his death, Lewis was portrayed onscreen by Stephan James in Ava DuVernay's Selma, which chronicled Martin Luther King, Jr.'s journey to lead the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.

Years before his death, Lewis also published a memoir reflecting on his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement: Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement. That book provided a firsthand account of his leadership in the Nashville organizations, the marches and more.

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David Greenberg's John Lewis: A Life is set to hit shelves on October 1 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.

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