"A historical thriller by the Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning author that tells the riveting story of the Klan's rise to power in the 1920s, the cunning con man who drove that rise, and the woman who stopped them. The Roaring Twenties -- the Jazz Age -- has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in ...
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"A historical thriller by the Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning author that tells the riveting story of the Klan's rise to power in the 1920s, the cunning con man who drove that rise, and the woman who stopped them. The Roaring Twenties -- the Jazz Age -- has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson. Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he'd become the Grand Dragon of the state and and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows - their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman - Madge Oberholtzer - who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees"--
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Add this copy of A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to to cart. $21.41, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2024 by Penguin Books.
Add this copy of A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to to cart. $28.76, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2023 by Viking.
Fever in the Heartland is a portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan in the Hoosier State during the 1920s. Much of the book depicts the rise and fall of the Grand Dragon D.C. Stephenson; the book concludes with a description of the trial of Stephenson for the rape and murder of Madge Oberholtzer. Author Timothy Egan capably discusses the following events that form the backdrop of the narrative: Prohibition; Amendment Nineteen and women gaining the right to vote; the Jazz Age; the Great Migration beginning in 1910 (the movement of numerous African-Americans from the South into the North and Midwest); the death of President Warren Harding on August 2, 1923; the riot between Klansmen and students at Notre Dame in May 1924; the National Origins Act of 1924; the presidential election of 1924; and the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. While I did like this book a great deal, the author leaves out some important information and could have done a better job with a bit more historical context. While he does discuss the rise of the Ku Klux Klan following the Civil War, he makes no mention of how the Reconstruction Era Ku Klux Klan worked in conjunction with the Democratic party to prevent the newly freed slaves from voting. He also makes no mention of the Red Scare following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the end of World War I; doing so would have provided more historical context and would have made the book a little more thorough and complete. On the other hand, he does discuss the Thomas Dixon Jr. book The Clansman (1905) and the 1915 movie Birth of a Nation and their effect on race relations in the United States in the early twentieth century. As an American history teacher, I always emphasize the importance of historical context. Still, this is a highly readable account that reads like a historical novel especially with the chapters on the trial of D. C. Stephenson (reading about his trial made me think of the 1957 movie Twelve Angry Men). In sum, despite some shortcomings, I highly recommend this book.
