The Ku Klux Klan: A Guide to an American Subculture

(Hardback)

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This history of the Ku Klux Klan traces the evolution of the organization from its 1865 founding to the present, drawing extensively on contemporaneous media reports. The Ku Klux Klan tells the story of America's oldest and largest homegrown terrorist organization. It is a revealing look at the philosophies and methods of a secret society that used religious symbols, secret codes, and the cloak of anonymity to bind its members together in the cause of violent racial warfare. The Ku Klux Klan encompasses the organization's entire history, from its post-Civil War founding by Nathan Bedford Forrest, to its high watermark in the early 20th century, with membership swelling to four million and its founders portrayed as heroes in the film, Birth of a Nation to its resurgence in the Civil Rights era, to more recent attempts by David Duke and others to put a benign face on the Klan in order to gain elective office.

Reviews

Ohio-based journalist Gitlin chronicles the history and philosophy of the Ku Klux Klan, which was founded in 1865 and today maintains a presence in pockets around the US. A timeline opens the text, followed by six loosely chronological chapters covering the following themes: origin of the Klan, its growth after the release of the 1915 film Birth of a Nation, Klan terrorism during the Civil Rights era, attempts to depict a "cleaner" clan after 1970, the Klan philosophy, and the demographics and motivations of members. Following are a glossary of terms used within the KKK and biographical sketches of major leaders. Finally, 20 excerpts of primary press documents with reflections from the author are provided, including notes from Stetson Kennedy's undercover infiltration of the Klan that resulted in the group's secret codes being broadcast on the Superman radio show. * Reference & Research Book News *
Although there are hundreds of good historical studies of the Ku Klux Klan available, this one is especially helpful for students in high school and colleges due to its emphasis on providing a good, yet brief, history of the Klan, profiles of some of its major leaders, and especially primary source documents. An inexpensive purchase, most academic libraries and most medium and larger public libraries should add this volume to their circulating collections. * ARBAonline *

Author Bio

Martin Gitlin is a freelance educational book writer based in Cleveland, OH.