The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America
by Wyn Craig Wade
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Book Summary Information
Author: Wyn Craig WadeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-11-19
ISBN: 0195123573
Number of pages: 528
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America
Book Review: A Klan Book That Makes Sense
Summary: 5 Stars
The Fiery Cross is the best one-volume history of the Ku Klux Klan I have read. I have always had a hard time accepting the claims of the academics that historically, Klan membership in America was a civic-minded, even virtuous impulse on the part of ordinary citizens. (How the academics manage to say this in view of the Klan's anti-ethnic activities has always stumped me.) Wyn Craig Wade reveals the historic KKK in all its aberrant glory. Of special interest, I believe, is his chapter on the KKK's triumph in Indiana during the 1920s. It seems anomalous that this landlocked midwestern Hoosier empire, rather than some southern state, was the KKK's major stronghold during the decade it reached its greatest national prominence. Wade explains how KKK organizers skillfully exploited Indiana's penchants for organized religion, joining clubs, and arrogance. At one point, thousands of people accepted as true a rumor that the Pope was going to relocate the Vatican to Indiana. Why? Simply because Indiana was the most desirable real estate on earth.
Summary of The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America
Few groups in our history are as fascinating and mysterious as the Ku Klux Klan. Its story is one of violence, political manipulation and intrigue, absurdity, and mesmerizing organizational and propaganda skills. Through shrewd political tactics and powerful leadership, the Klan has often been a potent force, as it encouraged Americans to protect themselves from those they find "unacceptable." Its actions have made it one of the most feared groups in America.In The Fiery Cross, Wyn Craig Wade traces the Klan from its beginnings after the Civil War as a social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, to the present. Wade provides us with the history of the group, which has gone through a number of declines and renaissances over the last hundred years. We follow the Klan's resurgence in 1915 after D.W. Griffith's epic film The Birth of a Nation depicted Klan members as heroic saviors of the old Southern society, to the swearing in of President Warren G. Harding as a Klansman in the Green Room, and from the Klan's championing of white supremacy as a response to the Civil Rights movement in the 60s, to their present day activities, aligning themselves with a variety of neo-fascist and right-wing groups in the American West. Finally, Wade provides us with an assessment of the Klan's future.
The Fiery Cross provides an exhaustive analysis and perspective on this dark shadow of American society. It is long overdue.
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