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. "In The Fiery Cross, Wyn Craig Wade traces the history of the Klan from its beginnings after the Civil War as a social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, to the present. The reader follows 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. Wade explores the Klan's championing of white supremacy as a response to the Civil Rights movement in the 60s, through to their present day activities, aligning themselves with a variety of neo-fascist and right-wing groups in the American West. He concludes by offering an assessment of the Klan's future. The Fiery Cross provides an exhaustive analysis and perspective on this dark shadow of American society."--Jacket Contents Preface Prologue Book One: 1865-1915 1. “The Shrouded Brotherhood” 2. “We Are the Law Itself’ 3. “Let Us Have Peace” Postscript Book Two: 1915-1930 4. “Writing History with Lightning” 5. “Here Yesterday, Here Today, Here Forever” 6. “I Found Christ through the Ku Klux Klan” 7. “Practical Patriotism” 8. “Ain’t God Good to Indiana?” Postscript Book Three: 1930-1987 9. “The Klan Is an American Institution” 10. “Divisible Invisible Empire” 11. “The Roaring Sixties” 12. “His Hot and Awful Light” 13. “A Bible in One Hand and a .38 in the Other” Postscript Acknowledgments Appendices Notes Index The Ku Klux Klan's story is one of violence, terror, political intrigue, absurdity, and mesmerizing organizational skills. Throught shrewd political tactics, powerful leadership, and manipulative propaganda, the Klan has remained a potent force in American society, a nd its actions have made it one of the most feared groups in the United States. The Fiery Cross traces the history of the Klan from its beginnings after the Civil War as a social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, to the present Former histories tell us that the advent of Radical Reconstruction gave rise to the Ku-Klux Klan.