by David Jacobs (Author), Patrick O'Donnell (Author)
The aftermath of the Civil War saw the Ku Klux Klan founded as a white supremacist insurgency of former Confederate rebels. But the Klan saw its greatest growth in the first decades of the 20th century. By 1925, with a membership of about four million, it was established in every state of the Union. Fueling its incredible growth was a potent combination of public relations expertise and high-pressure sales tactics applied to the business of hate. Its sinister legacy still confronts us today. Collected here for the first time is a massive dossier of original source material documenting this bizarre episode of American history. Materials include government reports; long-hidden pages from the Klan's own handbook; pro- and anti-Klan articles from newspapers and magazines of the period; and much more, including the complete text of Ezra A. Cook's classic piece of investigative reporting, "Ku Klux Klan: Secrets Exposed." All unabridged.