The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America

Rating:
Summary: Not great, but not bad either
Review: I believe that the other reviewers are being a little harsh. I have surveyed a good deal of the Klan literature, and found this book actually "fairly" good in comparison. Do I think that it is unbiased or totally accurate? - NO. But it is better than most current academic research, which when dealing with a topic such as this goes out of its way to condemn the Klan. From the standpoint of organizational history, this book is the best that I have come across. Wade's social analysis is suspect however. I do recommend it however, for anyone interested in the internal power struggles and organizational history of the Klan. The Klan literature which Wade includes is also fascinating.

Rating:
Summary: Not great, but not bad either
Review: I believe that the other reviewers are being a little harsh. I have surveyed a good deal of the Klan literature, and found this book actually "fairly" good in comparison. Do I think that it is unbiased or totally accurate? - NO. But it is better than most current academic research, which when dealing with a topic such as this goes out of its way to condemn the Klan. From the standpoint of organizational history, this book is the best that I have come across. Wade's social analysis is suspect however. I do recommend it however, for anyone interested in the internal power struggles and organizational history of the Klan. The Klan literature which Wade includes is also fascinating.

Rating:
Summary: The Kluxing of America
Review: In this book Wyn Wade has given us a very good overview but not an extremely detailed look at the Ku Klux Klan. That is not to say that he has not done his research for he has found lots of material. The simple fact is that a book of this length cannot possibly cover the subject in any great depth. That would require a book at least twice this long, and probably three times as long. This book was obviously not intended to be a Shelby Foote type narrative of the Klan, but the basic survey that it is.

Wade has done a good job with the post reconstruction Klan, but he tends to take revisionist history a bit too far. One thing that puzzles me is that he refers to Tennessee as the, "the only border state" that left the Union. Many historians refer to the Volunteer State as a border state even though it was surrounded by slave states on all sides, so I can let that part of the statement slide. I have never however heard of Tennessee referred to as a border state without at least Virginia and Arkansas also receiving that label. It's not a big thing I realize, but it did bug me.

After reconstruction, Wade takes the reader to the history of D.W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation", the movie that made the rebirth and rise of the post World War I Klan possible. Then he traces the new Klan through its phenomenal growth to its demise. Wade then moves on to the Cold War anti-Communist Klan, the Civil Rights era Klan, the David Duke Klan, and today's Aryan crowd. He does a fine job of bringing out the personalities of various Klan leaders and giving the lowdown on various politicians who, while not Klansmen themselves, were more than happy to court Klan support. He also does an outstanding job of telling the story of Klan violence, with special attention to the victims.

Wade ends this fascinating book with the story of the groups that have been organized to oppose the Klan and the FBI campaign that brought the Klan to its knees. Finally, Wade warns the reader that the Klan is still out there and should never be pronounced dead. The Klan has proven its resilience again and again he warns and his excellent book will give the reader many reasons to be wary of the men behind the masks.

Rating:
Summary: The Kluxing of America
Review: In this book Wyn Wade has given us a very good overview but not an extremely detailed look at the Ku Klux Klan. That is not to say that he has not done his research for he has found lots of material. The simple fact is that a book of this length cannot possibly cover the subject in any great depth. That would require a book at least twice this long, and probably three times as long. This book was obviously not intended to be a Shelby Foote type narrative of the Klan, but the basic survey that it is.

Wade has done a good job with the post reconstruction Klan, but he tends to take revisionist history a bit too far. One thing that puzzles me is that he refers to Tennessee as the, "the only border state" that left the Union. Many historians refer to the Volunteer State as a border state even though it was surrounded by slave states on all sides, so I can let that part of the statement slide. I have never however heard of Tennessee referred to as a border state without at least Virginia and Arkansas also receiving that label. It's not a big thing I realize, but it did bug me.

After reconstruction, Wade takes the reader to the history of D.W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation", the movie that made the rebirth and rise of the post World War I Klan possible. Then he traces the new Klan through its phenomenal growth to its demise. Wade then moves on to the Cold War anti-Communist Klan, the Civil Rights era Klan, the David Duke Klan, and today's Aryan crowd. He does a fine job of bringing out the personalities of various Klan leaders and giving the lowdown on various politicians who, while not Klansmen themselves, were more than happy to court Klan support. He also does an outstanding job of telling the story of Klan violence, with special attention to the victims.

Wade ends this fascinating book with the story of the groups that have been organized to oppose the Klan and the FBI campaign that brought the Klan to its knees. Finally, Wade warns the reader that the Klan is still out there and should never be pronounced dead. The Klan has proven its resilience again and again he warns and his excellent book will give the reader many reasons to be wary of the men behind the masks.

Rating:
Summary: A Klan Book That Makes Sense
Review: The title of the book is very promising. Thereafter, disappointment meets disappointment.

The book discribes the history of the clan from its beginnings after the civil war until nowadays.

The book is rich of Klan activities describing in detail the horrifying acts which were committed by its members. But, there it stops. It explains the KKK as a reaction to the Union League activity but shortcuts the overall complexity. Although, undoubtely most crimes were committed against African Americans one cannot just focus on that aspect alone. The Klan has had no cohision in its activities, no real focus, no master plan ... no.... Meaning that aspect is missing and I believe this is the essence of the foundation of the Klan. A certain incapability of a large sector of American society, first in the South, then in the North too, to adapt to social, economic and political changes. To these people, the world had turned insane. Since they did not, however, see any other way out, they turned against the weakest link of society and this was the "Black Man" in the South.

Another disappointment is the absence of sources and references. What is the description of a Klan lynching worth if I do not know where the author has the story from?

Three stars were given as the book includes a large variety of Klan crimes that may be useful in order to describe what the Klan in certain times and in certain places did.

However, it certainly misses an explanation. Facts alone are not good enough. Analysis is necessary. Here the book is weak.
Recommendable to buy only if you are interested in plain facts. Book references you will not find.

Rating:
Summary: This book is garbage.
Review: With the exception of the appendixes, Wyn Wade has written a book so obviously biased in favor of anti-Klan propaganda tha he may as well have not done any research at all. A telling mark is the fact that Wade dedicated the book to his "Radical Republican" grandmother. Wade glosses over the horrors inflicted upon the White population of the South during the reconstruction, choosing instead to do everything but pin knighthoods on the carpetbaggers, scalawags, Yankee imperialists and their negro henchmen. Klans of later decades don't fair much better as Wade manages to portray them as either idiot yahoos or psychotics. Wade neglects to mention the many good deeds of the Klan and fails to differentiate between activity of legitimate members of the Invisible Empire and that of criminals hiding behind the orders hoods. Wade is a propagandist of the worst kind and, if there were any justice in the world, he'd be tarred and feathered and hung.