WINNER OF THE SOUTHERN BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR NONFICTION âĸ âA landmark work of unflinching scholarship.ââThe New York Times
This extraordinary account of lynching in America, by acclaimed civil rights historian Philip Dray, shines a clear, bright light on American historyâs darkest stainâilluminating its causes, perpetrators, apologists, and victims. Philip Dray also tells the story of the men and women who led the long and difficult fight to expose and eradicate lynching, including Ida B. Wells, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, and W.E.B. Du Bois. If lynching is emblematic of what is worst about America, their fight may stand for what is best: the commitment to justice and fairness and the conviction that one individualâs sense of right can suffice to defy the gravest of wrongs. This landmark book follows the trajectory of both forces over American historyâand makes lynchingâs legacy belong to us all.
Praise for At the Hands of Persons Unknown
âIn this history of lynching in the post-Reconstruction Southâthe most comprehensive of its kindâthe author has written what amounts to a Black Book of American race relations.ââThe New Yorker
âA powerfully written, admirably perceptive synthesis of the vast literature on lynching. It is the most comprehensive social history of this shameful subject in almost seventy years and should be recognized as a major addition to the bibliography of American race relations.ââDavid Levering Lewis
âAn important and courageous book, well written, meticulously researched, and carefully argued.ââThe Boston Globe
âYou donât really know what lynching was until you read Drayâs ghastly accounts of public butchery and official complicity.ââTime