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A review by ninaprime
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Horrifying but essential book about the insidious grasp the KKK had over government and society in 1920s Indiana. The parallels to today are wildly unsettling, with the rise of hate groups like the Proud Boys, the pardoning of violent crimes, the fact that some people appear to be above the law and get away with sexual assault and grift. The KKK thrived because millions of white Protestant Americans were angry and fearful of immigrants and other minorities, believed in the words of charlatans, and wanted to join a meaningful community of the likeminded.
Egan has managed to make this a propulsive narrative, even though it is lengthy. It is easy to read in one sense, but also difficult to hear about the more sadistic elements. I never realized how widespread and almost commonplace the KKK was so Egan's book was a revelation regarding their reach and power. It took numerous people - newspaper editors, Catholic priests, resolute prosecutors, and of course women like Madge Oberholtzer - to finally get enact some justice on Grand Dragon D.C. Stephenson. But really it was also the KKK leaders' own greed and confidence in their superiority that caused them to overreach and people's eventual shame at being fooled (not necessarily because they became anti-racist) for the organization to fall apart. Despite some measure of closure and hope, it is probably too close to home for some people given the weight of everything happening now, which is really a reason both for and against reading it.
Egan has managed to make this a propulsive narrative, even though it is lengthy. It is easy to read in one sense, but also difficult to hear about the more sadistic elements. I never realized how widespread and almost commonplace the KKK was so Egan's book was a revelation regarding their reach and power. It took numerous people - newspaper editors, Catholic priests, resolute prosecutors, and of course women like Madge Oberholtzer - to finally get enact some justice on Grand Dragon D.C. Stephenson. But really it was also the KKK leaders' own greed and confidence in their superiority that caused them to overreach and people's eventual shame at being fooled (not necessarily because they became anti-racist) for the organization to fall apart. Despite some measure of closure and hope, it is probably too close to home for some people given the weight of everything happening now, which is really a reason both for and against reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Murder