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A review by orangerful
They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
5.0
This book had come up on several "best of" lists and it was one of those morbid topics that everyone is a bit curious about but isn't sure how to find out more. The K.K.K., one of the darkest bits of American history, a homegrown terrorist group that is still active today.
Bartoletti's book focuses on the founding of the organization and it's original rise to power after the U.S. Civil War during reconstruction. Glossed over in most history textbooks, Bartoletti makes the terrifying true story of the Klan hard to put down. She uses excerpts from real interviews with freed slaves of the time.
If you have any interest in American history, the good parts and the bad, you need to pick this book up. It's hard to read about how these people convinced themselves it was right to do this, but even more amazing are the men and women that stood up to the Klan, even when they knew no one would protect them.
This is an important book for so many reasons an I really hope it doesn't get lost in the stacks once the teachers and librarians are done with it. If we don't learn about this part of our past, we are doomed to repeat it.
Bartoletti's book focuses on the founding of the organization and it's original rise to power after the U.S. Civil War during reconstruction. Glossed over in most history textbooks, Bartoletti makes the terrifying true story of the Klan hard to put down. She uses excerpts from real interviews with freed slaves of the time.
If you have any interest in American history, the good parts and the bad, you need to pick this book up. It's hard to read about how these people convinced themselves it was right to do this, but even more amazing are the men and women that stood up to the Klan, even when they knew no one would protect them.
This is an important book for so many reasons an I really hope it doesn't get lost in the stacks once the teachers and librarians are done with it. If we don't learn about this part of our past, we are doomed to repeat it.