A review by saradent
The Burning: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 by Tim Madigan

5.0

I read the 100th anniversary edition of this book with an afterword. I grew up in Oklahoma, took an Oklahoma History class (which was required when I was in school), and lived in Tulsa for a few years. However, I never heard anything about this event until about a year ago. The book is extremely informative and allows the reader to understand the behavior of and emotions felt by those who lived through this experience and were influenced by it afterwards. The author not only brings attention and detail to a horrific massacre but also presents the bigger picture of racism with the massacre as a single data point among countless similar events. The afterword comes full circle by validating details from the Tulsa massacre and highlighting the #BlackLivesMatter movement (both of these occurred in 2020.) It did take some extra concentration and time to get through the first couple of chapters because of all of the people introduced and jumping around between different people and timelines. Sometimes things were worded in a confusing way so I would need to reread parts to make sure I understood details correctly. Regardless, I would definitely recommend this book to everyone.

(Physical Book)