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The biggest challenge when researching prominent figures from recent history isn't finding information, but deciding which of the numerous resources to concentrate on. We found these to be most helpful in preparing this issue.

Barth's Church Dogmatics fills a bookshelf, but a careful reading of volume one alone will richly reward the patient reader. His commentary on The Epistle to the Romans (Oxford, 1968) shook the theological world. It's another dense book but full of Barth's energy. For something completely different (especially for Mozart fans), check out his little work Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Eerdmans, 1986).

The best biography, Eberhard Busch's Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts (Fortress, 1976) gives not only Barth's life but allows Barth to speak throughout.

William Martin's A Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story (Morrow, 1991) leads the pack of Graham biographies. Martin had access to an astonishing amount of information, including nearly 200 interviews; the book's "Notes" section alone is 100 pages long. For photos, quotes, and coffee-table appeal, the best choice is Billy Graham: God's Ambassador (Time-Life, 1999) by Graham's longtime photographer, Russ Busby. Some of Graham's classic messages, as well as ministry news and other current information, can be found at his official Web site (www.billygraham.org).

For those interested in the life of Angelo Roncalli, plus a whole lot of information on the inner workings of Catholic hierarchy, it's tough to beat Peter Hebblethwaite's Pope John XXIII: Shepherd of the Modern World (Doubleday, 1985). For a collection of perspectives on the pope's main accomplishment, Vatican II, see the entry in Edwin S. Gaustad's A Documentary History of Religion in America Since 1865 (Eerdmans, 1993).

We were fortunate that George Weigel's Witness to Hope: The Biography of John Paul II (HarperCollins, 1999) was published in time to be a resource for this issue. This long but very readable book is well-researched and well-organized; the timelines at the beginning of each chapter are particularly helpful. Another recent book, John Paul II: An Invitation to Joy (Simon & Schuster, 1999), features many lovely photos, quotes, and brief summaries of the pope's views on subjects including life, ecumenism, and human rights. To see both John Paul II and John XXIII in the greater context of their tradition, Eamon Duffy's concise yet colorful Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes (Yale, 1997) is a wonderful reference. The official papal Web site (www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/index.htm) is also worth a look.

Again, the plethora of riches is daunting. By conducting extensive interviews and opening F.B.I. transcripts, David J. Garrow is able to delve deeply into both King's leadership and personal life in Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (William Morrow, 1999). For this issue, we kept returning to Taylor Branch's (so far) two-part history of the civil rights movement: Parting of the Waters: America in the King Years 1956-1963 and Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-1965 (Simon & Schuster, 1988, 1998). Russel Moldovan, who contributed the King article in this issue, focuses on King's specifically Christian motivation in Martin Luther King, Jr.: A History of His Religious Witness and His Life (American Universities Press, 1999).

King's "I Have a Dream" speech and his essay on civil disobedience, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (1963) are American classics and, with other King resources, can found at the Nobel Prize Internet Archive (www.almaz.com/nobel/nobel.html).

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