Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1934. First edition. A Fine copy in Very Good+ dust jacket. Publisher's olive cloth titled in red. Contemporary ink ownership inscription to upper free endpaper (William C. James, San Jose). Dust jacket with some chipping to edges and wear to folds. Some toning to spine and an ink mark at foot of spine. Overall a very appealing example of a work that profoundly impacted Martin Luther King Jr.

Richard B. Gregg's The Power of Non-Violence was the first book published by an American writer on satyagraha, the nonviolent resistance strategy developed and named by Gandhi during the Indian civil rights movement. The work had a profound impact on Martin Luther King Jr., who wrote to Gregg in 1934: “I don’t know when I have read anything that has given the idea of non-violence a more realistic and depthful interpretation. I assure you that it will be a lasting influence in my life." King later listed The Power of Non-Violence as one of the books that had influenced him the most, alongside the works of Thoreau, Walter Rauschenbusch, and Gandhi himself. In 1959, King wrote a foreword second edition of the book, in which he cited the influence of Gregg's work on the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and hoped that the book "gets a wide readership, particularly among those, in this country and throughout the world, who are seeking ways of achieving full social, personal, and political freedom in a manner consistent with human dignity."

See: The Stanford University Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute's profile of Richard B. Gregg. Fine in Very Good + dust jacket. (Item #8053)