Across That Bridge book cover

Across That Bridge by John Lewis Summary

Across That Bridge
John Lewis
4.35 (6253 Reviews)
Biography
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Politics
Overview
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Overview of Across That Bridge

Civil rights icon John Lewis's NAACP Image Award-winning memoir offers timeless wisdom from the Edmund Pettus Bridge to modern movements. What made Lewis insist nonviolence remains our most powerful weapon? Discover the spiritual blueprint that guided America's most courageous congressman through bloodshed toward justice.

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1

When the Streetcar Becomes a Heartbeat

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There's a particular sound that marks the end of childhood-not a dramatic crash but something quieter, more insidious. For the Carette sisters, it's the metallic rumble of the dawn streetcar outside their new, smaller apartment on Rue Cherrier. Their father is dead. Their mother, only twenty-seven, has moved them from comfort to survival. In the bedroom they now share, Berthe invents elaborate stories to calm her frightened younger sister Marie, spinning fantasies that serve as both distraction and shelter. What makes this moment so devastating isn't the grief itself but how it manifests: in the unfamiliar echoes of cramped rooms, in the intrusive sounds their old home had been too far away to hear, in the way their mother breaks down at dinner while trying to maintain the polished brass and pressed linens of their former life. This is how loss actually works-not in grand gestures but in the thousand small adjustments we make to accommodate absence. The children don't philosophize about death; they simply notice that everything sounds different now, that shadows fall in unfamiliar patterns, that their mother's hands shake while she sews for families who once invited her as a guest.

2

The Mathematics of Marriage

3

The Son Who Became a Stranger

4

The Bachelor Who Kept Burning Things Down

5

The Scholar Nobody Remembered

6

The Suitcase She Couldn't Throw Away

7

Remembering What Others Choose to Forget

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117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw
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"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum
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108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC
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254
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17

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore
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"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

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"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

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"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke
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"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn
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"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."

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likes
117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw
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"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum
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12
likes
108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC
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comments
254
likes
17

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore
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star

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful
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"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

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"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

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"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

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"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

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"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

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