The book is the story of the evolution of the Athens, Georgia, chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the decade following the First World War, when Klan influence peaked in America. MacLean explores the interconnected social issues of race, class, and sex, and how these forces combined to give rise to this right-wing extremist and often brutally violent American phenomenon.
Exposes the inner workings of the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s, culling from history the life stories and motives of the anonymous Klansmen beneath the white hoods and robes.
MacLean succeeds brilliantly in reminding us how much regional injustice, with its tendency toward violence, emotionalism, and crooked politics, touches us all. She shows how the South's dark side can produce a monster. One reads her book...with increasing dread and fascination.
