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Linda Gordon
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The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition Paperback – October 9, 2018

by Linda Gordon (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 279 ratings
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A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection

An urgent examination into the revived Klan of the 1920s becomes “required reading” for our time (New York Times Book Review).

Extraordinary national acclaim accompanied the publication of award-winning historian Linda Gordon’s disturbing and markedly timely history of the reassembled Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s. Dramatically challenging our preconceptions of the hooded Klansmen responsible for establishing a Jim Crow racial hierarchy in the 1870s South, this “second Klan” spread in states principally above the Mason-Dixon line by courting xenophobic fears surrounding the flood of immigrant “hordes” landing on American shores. “Part cautionary tale, part expose” (Washington Post), The Second Coming of the KKK “illuminates the surprising scope of the movement” (The New Yorker); the Klan attracted four-to-six-million members through secret rituals, manufactured news stories, and mass “Klonvocations” prior to its collapse in 1926―but not before its potent ideology of intolerance became part and parcel of the American tradition. A “must-read” (Salon) for anyone looking to understand the current moment, The Second Coming of the KKK offers “chilling comparisons to the present day” (New York Review of Books). 8 pages of illustrations
Previous page
  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Liveright
  4. Publication date
    October 9, 2018
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1631494929
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1631494925
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Klan of the 1920s, less violent but far more wide¬spread, is a different story, and offers some chilling comparisons to the present day. . . A thoughtful explanation of the Klan’s appeal in the fast-urbanizing America of the 1920s, which was leaving behind an earlier nation based, in imagined memory, on self-sufficient yeoman farmers, proud blue-collar workers, and virtuous small-town businessmen, all of them going to the same white-steepled church on Sunday."
― Adam Hoschschild, New York Review of Books

"A must-read for anyone wondering over the last several months how we ended up as a country―with the first African-American president not even a year out of office―facing a group of golf shirt-wearing young white men marching onto the campus of a prestigious university carrying torches and chanting ‘Jews will not replace us” . . . . Gordon documents not only the mechanics of how the Ku Klux Klan roared back to power, both socially and politically, in the 1920s but why. The parallels between then and now, branding differences aside, could not be more evident. To say it one more time for those who wish it weren’t so, the past isn’t dead and it’s not even past; and those who don’t learn from it are doomed to repeat it. . . . Histories like Gordon’s should help Americans understand the roots of these toxic ideologies, as well as the circumstances that help them flourish, in order to better spot them when they sprout."
― Erin Keane, Salon

"The Second Coming of the KKK illustrates how the 1920s reboot of the Ku Klux Klan was regarded as rather ordinary and respectable, much like today's efforts to make everyday racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism acceptable again. . . With the help of a couple of savvy public relations pros, Klan membership spread like wildfire, enveloping Northerners and Westerners in love with the idea of defining themselves by what they were not."
― Deborah Douglas, Vice

"Gordon is a thorough and perceptive historian . . . There’s more to The Second Coming of the KKK than grim déja vu. There are lessons too."
― Randy Dotinga, Christian Science Monitor

"Sharply argued. . . . [Gordon] encourages readers to draw bold lines between the political milieu of the Second Klan and our current predicament."
― Todd Moye, Texas Observer

"Set aside your preconceptions about the Klan, from the era of Reconstruction. As the distinguished historian Linda Gordon demonstrates in this chilling account, the KKK of the 1920s was urban, northern, and modern. Its wizards and dragons used the latest tools of mass advertising to spread their message of ‘true Americanism’: racial purity, religious intolerance, and opposition to immigration. Its members, one in six of whom were women, favored women’s suffrage. Its campaign of terror ended not long after it began, but it left on American politics its dark mark."
― Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman

"The Second Coming of the KKK reminds us that we Americans bid good riddance to serial aberrations in the civic and social life of our republic repeatedly, only to learn that these phenomena are as American as apple pie. Gordon’s timely, crisply written, indispensable primer helps explain why another aberration is now upon us."
― David Levering Lewis, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography

"A first-rate historian can show us the past in a way that clarifies the present. That’s what Linda Gordon does here…[The Second Coming of the KKK] reminds us that the sentiments that powered the reprise of the Klan have never been entirely absent from American life, and cannot be understood as an aberrant strain that might be entirely eliminated from the national character."
― Nicholas Lemann, author of Redemption

"An excellent historical treatment of an almost forgotten yet very dangerous period of hate in America. What a history lesson for today’s electorate."
― Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center

"At once thoughtful, fair, and deeply troubling, The Second Coming of the KKK exhibits the analytical wisdom of a master historian who sharply reminds us that popular mass mobilizations can be instruments of depredation."
― Ira Katznelson, author of the Bancroft Prize–winning Fear Itself

"As the author amply shows, [the Klan’s] fearful, angry spirit lives on. A revealing, well-researched―and, unfortunately, contemporarily relevant―investigation of the KKK's wide support in the 1920s."
― Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Winner of two Bancroft Prizes for best book in American history, Linda Gordon is the author of The Second Coming of the KKK and a biography of photographer Dorothea Lange. She lives in New York and Madison, Wisconsin.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Liveright; Reprint edition (October 9, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1631494929
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1631494925
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 279 ratings

About the author

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Linda Gordon

Linda Gordon

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Linda Gordon is the Florence Kelley Professor of History at New York University. She is the author of numerous books including Dorothea Lange and Impounded, and won the Bancroft Prize for The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction. She lives in New York.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
279 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Haim Dov Beliak
5.0 out of 5 stars The Ku Klux Klan was once respectable
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2018
Verified Purchase
I am fairly conversant with American and European studies that address nationalistic and populist movements of the 19th and 20th Century but this book was an eye-opener. I can't but help reading this book in the light of current political realities and that is precisely one of Dr. Linda Gordon's strengths since she too is aware of the "double vision" problem. Dr. Gordon is careful to distinguish helpful and informative comparisons but also to delimit comparisons that are misleading. I recommend this be read alongside with another important study by Polish historian Joanna Michlic's Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew form 1880 to the present.
26 people found this helpful
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william r schlichter
4.0 out of 5 stars I find it important that we never forget our history.
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2022
Verified Purchase
What gets me is how much the 1920s are too close to the 2020s. We haven’t learned much in 100 years. There is a lot of history here I never learned, and it should be taught. What the KKK did in 1923 still shapes our nation. The other reason was to continue to round out my detective novel with how it was in the 1920s and the pushback on immigration and other social issues. We can’t forget how easy it is for so many people to get behind such an organization for what they think is the right reasons because they have great propaganda machines. Still, I hope can capture the feel of the 1920s for all angels, but the in depth study of an organization of hate is equally important.
4 people found this helpful
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Napsil
5.0 out of 5 stars Honestly, this book was hard for me to purchase ...
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2018
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Honestly, this book was hard for me to purchase. However, after reading this book, and understanding the viewpoint in which it was written in, it was eye opening. I learned pieces of history I never discussed in school before and is probably "why" my college professor required this book. It will definitely stir up some conversation.
14 people found this helpful
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Tom C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Very insightful.
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2021
Verified Purchase
Opened my mind to what motivated the KKK to exist. The mindset was/is deeper and wider than I thought. The focus on Catholics was news to me as a recovering Catholics.
One person found this helpful
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Roger J. Lederer
3.0 out of 5 stars Good for information, not so much for entertainment
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2018
Verified Purchase
More of a research paper than an interesting narrative
One person found this helpful
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Helena Montana
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is important to read because the circumstances that ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2018
Verified Purchase
This book is important to read because the circumstances that brought all this about in the 1920's seem to be happening again. if you pay attention to current events you will see the similarities. Very interesting read.
20 people found this helpful
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Roberta Newman
4.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying. And a good read.
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2018
Verified Purchase
Frightening! A book for our times. I guess I shouldn't be surprised given the current political and racial/ethnic divide. But I was truly horrified at how closely the doctrine of the revived Klan of the twentieth century resembles the America First movement.
22 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2021
Verified Purchase
Muy buen libro
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Julieferguson
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book a bout kkk in the USA
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2021
Verified Purchase
Informative book shockingly real about kkk racism in the USA
A must read sad but truthful
Put on book list to read
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars the inner story of the cardboard monster that was the Klan in the '20's
Reviewed in Canada on November 5, 2019
Verified Purchase
quite good historical view of the 2nd coming of the Klan in the '20's-who then proceed to destroy themselves from within because of ego and greed-in spite of fairly substantial public/political sympathy..
One person found this helpful
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MD
5.0 out of 5 stars Leicht verständlich geschrieben
Reviewed in Germany on February 28, 2018
Verified Purchase
Leicht verständlich geschriebenes Buch, welches die Geschichte des 2. Ku klux Klans analysiert. Lieferung erfolgte im angegebenen Zeitrahmen. vielen Dank
One person found this helpful
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