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A review by snipinfool
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Timothy Egan wrote a gripping book about one of the darkest times in American history. The time was the 1920s and the KKK was rising from the dead. Men worried that the white, protestant standards they felt the country stood for would be corrupted by the influx of immigrants. In Michigan, the man leading the recruitment was D. C. Stephenson. Stephenson was very good at focusing his message to target people's fears. People were told that the KKK stood for God, family values, and the purity of the white race. He was one of the best salesman around and used it to his advantage to become rich and politically powerful.
Stephenson became so powerful that he often bragged that he could commit a crime and not be charged. He threw lavish parties featuring alcohol (during prohibition), naked women, and other activities counter to what Klan said it stood for. Stephenson also had a little known history of being sexually abusive to women. The women he assaulted often didn't go to the police because they police were frequently friends of Stephenson or they feared what the trial would do to their lives. Stephenson was finally brought down when he kidnapped a young woman named Madge Oberholtzer. Her subsequent death and the trial for her murder ended up bringing the KKK down as well.
I read this book for a book club and it was a very difficult read. I had to take a lot of reading breaks because I would get too angry to focus on the content. Egan researched the story thoroughly. He dedicated forty-seven pages at the end for photos, references, and an index. As horrible as the content of this book was, it was very well written. The chapters were well laid out and followed a natural progression. I saw many parallels to what happened during this time and current times. Those seeking power will always try to manipulate people's fears to bend them toward their malicious plans. Unfortunately, there are those who will follow and turn a blind eye to what is before them.
Stephenson became so powerful that he often bragged that he could commit a crime and not be charged. He threw lavish parties featuring alcohol (during prohibition), naked women, and other activities counter to what Klan said it stood for. Stephenson also had a little known history of being sexually abusive to women. The women he assaulted often didn't go to the police because they police were frequently friends of Stephenson or they feared what the trial would do to their lives. Stephenson was finally brought down when he kidnapped a young woman named Madge Oberholtzer. Her subsequent death and the trial for her murder ended up bringing the KKK down as well.
I read this book for a book club and it was a very difficult read. I had to take a lot of reading breaks because I would get too angry to focus on the content. Egan researched the story thoroughly. He dedicated forty-seven pages at the end for photos, references, and an index. As horrible as the content of this book was, it was very well written. The chapters were well laid out and followed a natural progression. I saw many parallels to what happened during this time and current times. Those seeking power will always try to manipulate people's fears to bend them toward their malicious plans. Unfortunately, there are those who will follow and turn a blind eye to what is before them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Racism, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Misogyny, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, and Emotional abuse