"Gary May’s compelling history of why and how the Voting Rights Act advanced the promise of American life could not be more timely. Every member of the Supreme Court and every citizen interested in the widest possible access to the ballot box will want to read May’s book. It should be recognized as the standard work on this most important subject."
 

"Gary May's superb new book . . . offer[s] a grim reminder of how truly awful things were for Southern Blacks before the [Voting Rights Act] was enacted, and how hard Southern whites worked to suppress their votes, long after they were legally granted the franchise. He details the beatings, deaths, police-led violence, and brutality that culminated in the events of 'Bloody Sunday' in March of 1965."

"Gary May’s dramatic Bending Toward Justice brings alive the critical dynamic between grass roots advocacy and political leadership which produced the most significant advance in civil rights since the Emancipation Proclamation. How this victory was achieved provides vital lessons to any citizen concerned about the importance of voting rights protections and the dangers and challenges to those rights today."
 

"By coincidence, the very weekend before the Supreme Court’s decision disemboweled [the Voting Rights Act], I had finished reading this masterful new account of the events leading up to its passage. . . . You will not find in one volume a more compelling story of the heroic men and women who struggled for the right to vote, or a more cinematic rendering of the political battle to enact the law, or a more succinct telling of the long campaign to subvert it. . . . [Gary May] has written a book that could change this country again, if every citizen read it.”

“In this vivid and beautifully written page-turner, May brings the story of the Voting Right Act to life in an altogether new way by deftly drawing out the personal stories and voices of this epoch-making statute. At a time when the future of the Voting Rights Act is uncertain and up for debate, May’s book could not be more timely—or more readable.”
 

Publishers Weekly
“May’s lively and cogent history of the Voting Rights Act is indispensable reading for anyone concerned about the erosion of voting rights that has accompanied the election of Barack Obama, America’s first black president, especially as the issue is still up for debate in 2013, in a case to be heard by the Supreme Court…. May has constructed a vivid, fast-paced morality tale…. By focusing on Selma, May pays tribute to the courage of otherwise ordinary people and makes a case for the continued relevance of this legislation.”

Kirkus Reviews
“A meticulous, impassioned narrative…. May delivers a fascinating account of the legislative maneuvering required to corral enough Republican votes to shut down the inevitable filibuster by southern Democrats and bring about final passage…. Superb history.”

Robert Dallek, author of John F. Kennedy: An Unfinished Life, 1917-1963
“Gary May’s compelling history of why and how the Voting Rights Act advanced the promise of American life could not be more timely. Every member of the Supreme Court and every citizen interested in the widest possible access to the ballot box will want to read May's book. It should be recognized as the standard work on this most important subject.”

Rick Valelly, Swarthmore College, author of The Two Reconstructions
“In this vivid and beautifully written page-turner, May brings the story of the Voting Right Act to life in an altogether new way by deftly drawing out the personal stories and voices of this epoch-making statute. At a time when the future of the Voting Rights Act is uncertain and up for debate, May’s book could not be more timely—or more readable.”

Nick Kotz, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Laws That Changed America
“Gary May’s dramatic Bending Toward Justice brings alive the critical dynamic between grass roots advocacy and political leadership which produced the most significant advance in civil rights since the Emancipation Proclamation. How this victory was achieved provides vital lessons to any citizen concerned about the importance of voting rights protections and the dangers and challenges to those rights today.”

Diane McWhorter, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Carry Me Home
“It’s hard to believe that a pivot in American history as transformative as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is only now getting its first book-length treatment, but Gary May is the ideal historian for the job. With confidence and concision, he navigates between a landmark bridge in Selma, Alabama, and the also highly contended committees of Congress to produce a compelling narrative of the civil rights movement’s ultimate triumph: the Selma-to-Montgomery March and the ensuing federal legislation guaranteeing universal suffrage. By following the struggle over voting rights into the present day, May’s fine book provides vivid proof that history is never history.”

"It’s hard to believe that a pivot in American history as transformative as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is only now getting its first book-length treatment, but Gary May is the ideal historian for the job. With confidence and concision, he navigates between a landmark bridge in Selma, Alabama, and the also highly contended committees of Congress to produce a compelling narrative of the civil rights movement’s ultimate triumph: the Selma-to-Montgomery March and the ensuing federal legislation guaranteeing universal suffrage. By following the struggle over voting rights into the present day, May’s fine book provides vivid proof that history is never history."
 

"May’s eminently readable book is particularly timely . . . [and] contains a wealth of information about the events that led to the enactment of the 1965 statute—and about the dedication and heroism of little-known participants in the events that came to national attention in 1964 and 1965."