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oumaima_mekni's review against another edition
5.0
Who could've thought that an inside club made only by six men in a deserted old house, would turn out to be a feared local mob that claim to defend the 'lost rights' of the southerners after their loss in the civil war, to wind up being one of the largest and notorious terrorist group in the history of America.
I applause Susan Campbell Bartoletti for this rich and well-resourced documentation of The Klan that covered it since the early days of the American Civil War outbreak until recent years, and providing the two sides of the story while remaining fairly unbiased.
Yet, I can't imagine how awfully uncomfortable Susan felt while collecting information about this atrocious group and its awful crimes against Black people. As a reader, I was horrified at the length the Klan would go just to prove their power and supremacy,
"Jim had fought for his life; how he had pleaded and prayed; how, with the rope around his neck, he scrambled up the tall pine out of reach; how a Klansman climbed up after him and pushed him, and when Jim clung to the thick limb, the Klansman hacked at his fingers with a knife, forcing Jim to drop."
So I can scarcely imagine the mental and emotional state the author went through while documenting these stories, especially as the hatred of the Klan transgressed the African Americans and it included everyone who opposed their doctrines, regardless of their race, gender, religion, etc...
I applause Susan Campbell Bartoletti for this rich and well-resourced documentation of The Klan that covered it since the early days of the American Civil War outbreak until recent years, and providing the two sides of the story while remaining fairly unbiased.
Yet, I can't imagine how awfully uncomfortable Susan felt while collecting information about this atrocious group and its awful crimes against Black people. As a reader, I was horrified at the length the Klan would go just to prove their power and supremacy,
"Jim had fought for his life; how he had pleaded and prayed; how, with the rope around his neck, he scrambled up the tall pine out of reach; how a Klansman climbed up after him and pushed him, and when Jim clung to the thick limb, the Klansman hacked at his fingers with a knife, forcing Jim to drop."
So I can scarcely imagine the mental and emotional state the author went through while documenting these stories, especially as the hatred of the Klan transgressed the African Americans and it included everyone who opposed their doctrines, regardless of their race, gender, religion, etc...
missbaughn's review against another edition
4.0
This book broke my heart to read. How anyone could be a part of this group I will never understand. But to see how it started and what the newly freed men and women went through on a DAILY basis!
braddy7's review against another edition
4.0
In 2023, I am working my way through lists of books that have been removed from libraries. My end goal is to understand why. Some books are easier than others to understand why the ideas contained in the book may have been offensive. This one ☝️ not so much. The history is solid and uses primary source material as it tells the terrifying story of the black experience under the rule of the KKK.
“Some white Southerners didn’t oppose education for the freed people, but they did object to the school’s curriculum, saying undermined the notion of white supremacy. They complained that Northern teachers and missionaries taught subjects such as geography and history from a Yankee point of view and that they filled their lessons with radical equality.”
Radical equality
“Some white Southerners didn’t oppose education for the freed people, but they did object to the school’s curriculum, saying undermined the notion of white supremacy. They complained that Northern teachers and missionaries taught subjects such as geography and history from a Yankee point of view and that they filled their lessons with radical equality.”
Radical equality
kelleemoye's review against another edition
4.0
Susan Campbell Bartoletti is one of my favorite YA nonfiction authors because she makes history accessible to students. The newest book of hers is no different. Although this book is less narrative nonfiction like Hitler Youth and more traditional nonfiction, Bartoletti knows how to make history more than just dates by adding stories and primary sources.
brandypainter's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
This is a comprehensive overview of the founding and early history of the KKK. I really liked the way the chapters were themed and yet still covered a chronology. I wish it were more slightly engaging in form. The factual information and the stories are great but their emotional impact is often lost in the wordiness and length of the chapters.
This is a comprehensive overview of the founding and early history of the KKK. I really liked the way the chapters were themed and yet still covered a chronology. I wish it were more slightly engaging in form. The factual information and the stories are great but their emotional impact is often lost in the wordiness and length of the chapters.
beatniksafari's review against another edition
Historical photographs and illustrations, along with eyewitness accounts, add much to this narrative of the Klan's rise and pervasive reign over the post-Civil War South. I was unaware of the true extent of the group's horrors and just how deeply rooted its influence was.
blackerbird's review against another edition
5.0
Everything you've ever wanted to know about the origin of the KKK. Very informative.