Which Leo Tolstoy book influenced Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas about nonviolence?

The Leo Tolstoy book that influenced Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas about nonviolence is The Kingdom of God Is Within You.

Published in 1894, the book argues that Christians should reject violence, coercive institutions, and participation in war. Tolstoy interpreted Jesus’ teaching on nonresistance as a practical social ethic rather than merely a private spiritual ideal.

The work also influenced other nonviolent thinkers, including Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi read Tolstoy’s writings and corresponded with him in 1910, shortly before Tolstoy’s death. King later encountered Tolstoy’s ideas while developing his own philosophy of nonviolent resistance.

The title is sometimes confused with My Religion, an earlier Tolstoy book on related religious themes. The Kingdom of God Is Within You is the title most directly associated with Tolstoy’s influence on organized nonviolence.