RALEIGH — It was not a rock concert or a sporting event that drew thousands of people Thursday to a Raleigh shopping center, but the chance to shake the hand of history. President Jimmy Carter was at Quail Ridge Books promoting his new book.

More than 2,000 people waited in a line that snaked around the shopping center and out to the street. It took, on average, four hours to get inside. Many people say it was worth the effort.

"Jimmy Carter has always been my favorite president, and I have always admired him," says Debra Bradford. "Our children are younger, and we wanted them to know about him and his life."

The book, "An Hour Before Daylight," chronicles Carter's Depression-era childhood in rural Georgia. The backdrop for the memoir is the racially segregated society, which helped shape his strong beliefs in civil rights.