Reviews - A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them

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A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them

Riveting account of the growth of the Ku Klux Klan in the Midwest & Northwestern states in the 1920s with emphasis on the role of a sexual predator as the head of the Indiana KKK and his assault upon a young, well respected woman in the state, resulting in her death.

It will fill the reader with outrage and horror.
Approach it as an immensely interesting history and cautionary tale of a time when hatred of fellow citizens was as American as a Ford Model T.
Depressing but impossible to forget.

gingersnapp's review

5.0

dark emotional tense medium-paced

jessika913's review

5.0

challenging informative

Content Warnings

prolifictrek's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

courttate's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

I read this book fairly quick... It really drew me in and kept me interested the entire time. I not only enjoyed, but could follow along well with the heavy information and a lot of the names and dates. I feel it was written in a novel type way so it didn't feel like a lot of number/name information... This is something I didn't know much about and after reading this book I'm interested in my own areas history with the Klan and white supremacy. I also see a lot of similar correlations with our current regime and administration so I was hopeful through the end for its downfall.

annemariecunningham's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

‘A Fever in the Heartland’ tells of the rise of a powerful hate group in Indiana. A group that touted a “rules for thee, not for me” attitude, championed the idea that certain people are “less than” because of certain religious beliefs or ethnic backgrounds, advocated for the removal of tax-exempt status for a university that spoke out against their hatred, advocated for bible reading in public schools, tried to “build a wall” by making it harder for people from certain countries to immigrate to the US, and elected leaders who were blatant bigots and racists.

I know what you’re thinking, but no, I’m not talking about the current administration. Yikes, right?

This isn’t to say that there weren’t ardent hate supporters in both major political parties - Egan highlighted some of the Democratic policies and supporters that were equally at fault for the rise of one of the largest hate groups in US history. ‘A Fever in the Heartland’ sheds light on some downright frightening parallels between the current US and early, hate-focused, 20th century America, showing how easily the KKK was able to infiltrate all levels of government in the 1920’s.

The 3-star rating is for the writing, not the content. I wasn’t “wowed” by Egan’s writing - it was fact-heavy and fairly dull for the first and last quarters of the book. The pace dragged, even during more interesting parts. I think this would’ve been a more engaging read if Egan broadened the scope to discuss major players other than Stevenson. I also would have loved fewer trial details and more information about the downfall of the Klan.

Definitely recommend for the content!

Content Warnings