Invisible Empire The Ku Klux Klan in Florida

In vivid, comprehensive, & often grim detail, Invisible Empire charts 130 years of Ku Klux Klan activity in Florida, one of the Klan's most violent & enduring realms. Beginning with the chaotic days of Reconstruction, when Klansmen killed more than 150 victims in a single county, this important history describes the organization's influence on Florida politics & its links to modern law enforcement. From the KKK's heyday during the 1920s & 1930s, its alignment in the 1970s & 1980s with a growing crop of neo-Nazis & other cultists, & its emergence in the 1990s on the fringe of the "right-to-life" movement, Florida Klansmen have waged a constant war against progressive society. Their crimes range from petty vandalism to assassination & destruction of entire communities. Florida governors have courted Klan ballots, & high-ranking lawmen collaborated with the Klan in campaigns of arson & murder. In addition to recounting tales of violence, Newton addresses the critical question of how the hooded night riders continue to survive--a bitter, marginalized extremist movement that is still marching in what is arguably the Deep South's most progressive & ethnically diverse state. He also discusses how to curb guerrilla warfare before the Klan & its allies inaugurate a new century of terror.Newton, Michael is the author of 'Invisible Empire The Ku Klux Klan in Florida' with ISBN 9780813021201 and ISBN 0813021200.