Description: Behind the Mask of Chivalry exposes the inner workings of the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s, and explains how it was able to attract millions of American men. Using an usual and rich cache of internal Klan records from Athens, Georgia, to anchor her observations, MacLean combines a fine-grained portrait of a local Klan world with an analysis of the movement's ideas and politics nationwide. The result is a new, multi-dimensional understanding of the social conditions, cultural currents, and ordinary men that built this archetypal American reactionary movement. Examining the developments of the times from the perspective of white men who liked to portray themselves as victims, the study provides new insight into a critical era of American history, and into an enduring refrain in conservative thought.
Review Quotes: "An ambitious addition to a now long list of revisionist local studies of the Klan. It is the first of these books to focus on a southern community or state, and the first to place gender squarely at the center in explaining the extraordinary popularity of the men's Klan."--The Journal of American History
"One of the most insightful and authoritative works on the Klan. It will serve as the standard work on the Klan of the 20s for decades to come."--Professor David Williams, Valdosta State University"[T]his is an important book. It is recommended for all students of the South, African Americans, and violence in American history."--History"Behind the Mask of Chivalry is a well-written...analysis of the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s."--Journal of Social History"This is a big book about a small place....Its dark vision of the American heartland is bound to stir lively debate."--The New York Times Book Review"This study...is without a doubt the best done on the Klan in the 1920s....[W]hat emerges is a portrait of racial division in this country that is frightening, and important to understand."--LIATT"Using a rich cache of Klan records from Athens, Georgia, MacLean shows how and why the Klan achieved a level of power and influence unmatched by other American right-wing groups."--The Black Scholar"Behind the Mask of Chivalry is a unique and well-researched resource on the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s. Nancy MacLean's book is an invaluable work for scholars or anyone interested in this little-documented era of Klan history."--Morris Dees, The Southern Poverty Law Center"An elegant and sophisticated book that goes a long way toward unraveling the puzzle of the twentieth-century Ku Klux Klan."--Edward L. Ayers, author of The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction"In a major new interpretation, MacLean puts the Ku Klux Klan in racial, sexual, class and even international context. This powerful book will challenge all of us to rethink the nature and potential of American right wing movements."--Linda Gordon, author of Heroes of Their own Lives: The Politics and History of Family Violence"A powerful read...[A]n essential read for any student of U.S. sociology or history and for anyone engaged in the necessary struggle for social change."--S.E. Anderson, City College of New York"Nancy MacLean has written a remarkable, readable, and important book on the second Ku Klux Klan. With this study, Nancy MacLean has made a significant scholarly contribution to our understanding of the Klan."--Richard L. Aynes, University of Akron"Professor Maclean and 'Behind the Mask of Chivalry' have made the study of Klan history much more interesting and significant."--David Chalmers, University of Florida"This is a big book about a small place....Its dark vision...[is] ambitious in scope and graced by artful, energetic prose." -- Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, New York Times Book Review"Masterly scholarship that unravels the murderous racial, gender, and class resentments underpinning a terrorist organization as American as apple pie." -- Kirkus Reviews "An ambitious addition to a now long list of revisionist local studies of the Klan. It is the first of these books to focus on a southern community or state, and the first to place gender squarely at the center in explaining the extraordinary popularity of the men's Klan." -- Leonard J. Moore, Journal of American History"A remarkable, readable, and important book...a significant scholarly contribution to our understanding of the Klan." -- The Historian"This study...is without a doubt the best done on the Klan in the 1920s....[W]hat emerges is a portrait of racial division in this country that is frightening, and important to understand." -- LIATT"An elegant and sophisticated book that goes a long way toward unraveling the puzzle of the twentieth-century Ku Klux Klan." -- Edward L. Ayers, Author of The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction"MacLean puts the Ku Klux Klan in racial, sexual, class and even international context. This powerful book will challenge all of us to rethink the nature and potential of American right wing movements." -- Linda Gordon, Author of The Second Coming of the KKK"Using a rich cache of Klan records from Athens, Georgia, MacLean shows how and why the Klan achieved a level of power and influence unmatched by other American right-wing groups." -- The Black Scholar"Behind the Mask of Chivalry is a unique and well-researched resource on the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s. Nancy MacLean's book is an invaluable work for scholars or anyone interested in this little-documented era of Klan history." -- Morris Dees, The Southern Poverty Law Center"MacLean succeeds brilliantly in reminding us how much regional injustice, with its tendency toward violence, emotionalism, and crooked politics, touches us all. She shows how the South's dark side can produce a monster. One reads her book...with increasing dread and fascination." -- John Herbert Roper, Southern Cultures