The 1968 Memphis campaign is stained by the blood on the Lorraine Motel's balcony. Before labour historian Michael Honey addressed the subject, scholarship consisted prinicipally of Joan Beifuss's At the River I Stand (1985) and the David Appleby, Allison Graham and Steve Ross documentary film of the same name. These did not fully detail the union struggle that was the heart of the campaign, although Honey's explanation of the strike's evolution into a racial confrontation and of the impact of King's involvement and assassination echoes theirs.

Local black workers launched the strike to the consternation of the national leadership at the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). While appalling material conditions sparked the strike and police brutality fuelled it, its central issue was union recognition. Mayor Henry Loeb not only insisted that public employees had no right to strike, he also denied their right to collective bargaining. Rigid paternalism married to parsimony was his labour policy. He rightly foresaw that if the sanitation workers secured a union contract, other public workers would quickly follow. Honey's major contribution is to reconstruct this labour battle.

His title comes from the parable of the Good Samaritan who helped the man beaten and robbed on the Jericho road. King is the Samaritan, departing from his already overloaded and debilitating schedule to become involved in the Memphis dispute. Honey makes clear that King's 18 March speech rejuvenated a flagging campaign and that his call for a general strike escalated it. The study breaks new ground, re-evaluating King as a committed labour–civil rights coalition builder. It acknowledges that the violence of 28 March shattered King's credibility and called into question the feasibility of a viable progressive alliance among African Americans by 1968, let alone between black and white unionists. Honey ascribes the initial store window-breaking to opportunists rather than militants (the Invaders) or FBI-funded agents provocateurs. Poor local organizers and inept policing also contributed. Nevertheless, the destruction and disarray put King's nonviolent credentials on the line. He felt compelled to return and lead a peaceful march. The eventual strike settlement was available before King came to Memphis, but only his death forced Loeb to accede. Honey brilliantly conveys the full enormity of this cost.