Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Review Quotes:"Masterly examination of the widespread outbreak of racially motivated mob violence in the summer of 1919. In his debut, "Wall Street Journal" staff reporter McWhirter describes in gripping detail a wave of incidents of mob violence that erupted across America in the summer following the end of World War I. ... Throughout the book, the author writes with professional detachment, permitting his subjects' words and deeds to speak eloquently for themselves, amplified by liberal quotation from the vibrant black press of the period. An unsettling reminder of the cruelty and hatred that can lie beneath the surface of a nation formally committed to equal justice for all, but also a monument to the suffering and perseverance of a people at last determined to demand rights promised but too long denied."--"Kirkus Reviews""The author brings a journalist's diligent digging and skillful storytelling to this historical account; behind the names of towns, he takes the reader into the lives of vReview Quotes:"A riveting account of the summer that transformed American race relations."--Vanessa Bush, "Booklist" (Starred Review)"Masterly examination of the widespread outbreak of racially motivated mob violence in the summer of 1919. In his debut, "Wall Street Journal" staff reporter McWhirter describes in gripping detail a wave of incidents of mob violence that erupted across America in the summer following the end of World War I. . . . Throughout the book, the author writes with professional detachment, permitting his subjects' words and deeds to speak eloquently for themselves, amplified by liberal quotation from the vibrant black press of the period. An unsettling reminder of the cruelty and hatred that can lie beneath the surface of a nation formally committed to equal justice for all, but also a monument to the suffering and perseverance of a people at last determined to demand rights promised but too long denied."--"Kirkus Reviews""The author brings a journalist's diligent diggBiographical Note: Cameron McWhirter is a staff reporter for "The ""Wall Street Journal." He was awarded a Nieman Foundation Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard in 2007. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Table of Contents: 1. Carswell Grove -- 2. Things Fall Apart -- 3. The World Is on Fire -- 4. The NAACP -- 5. National Conference on Lynching -- 6. Charleston -- 7. Bombs and the Decline of the West -- 8. Ellisville -- 9. Cleveland -- 10. Longview -- 11. Washington -- 12. Chicago Is a Great Foreign City -- 13. The Beach -- 14. Like a Great Volcano -- 15. Austin -- 16. Knoxville -- 17. A New Negro -- 18. Omaha -- 19. Phillips County -- 20. Let the Nation See Itself -- 21. Capitol Hill -- Coda: Carswell Grove -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. Publisher Marketing: A narrative history of America's deadliest episode of race riots and lynchingsAfter World War I, black Americans fervently hoped for a new epoch of peace, prosperity, and equality. Black soldiers believed their participation in the fight to make the world safe for democracy finally earned them rights they had been promised since the close of the Civil War. Instead, an unprecedented wave of anti-black riots and lynchings swept the country for eight months. From April to November of 1919, the racial unrest rolled across the South into the North and the Midwest, even to the nation's capital. Millions of lives were disrupted, and hundreds of lives were lost. Blacks responded by fighting back with an intensity and determination never seen before."Red Summer" is the first narrative history written about this epic encounter. Focusing on the worst riots and lynchings--including those in Chicago, Washington, D. C., Charleston, Omaha and Knoxville--Cameron McWhirter chronicles the mayhem, while also exploring the first stirrings of a civil rights movement that would transform American society forty years later. Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 04/18/2011 (EAN 9780805089066, Hardcover) Library Journal 05/01/2011 pg. 92 (EAN 9780805089066, Hardcover) Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2011 (EAN 9780805089066, Hardcover) Booklist 06/01/2011 pg. 10 (EAN 9780805089066, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Contributor Bio:  McWhirter, Cameron Cameron McWhirter is a writer and staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of "Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America" (2011) and a contributor to "The Ezra Pound Encyclopedia" (2005).