Shawn Lay

Hooded Knights on the Niagara: The Ku Klux Klan in Buffalo, New York Shawn Lay

Jacket Description/Back: 'A first -rate study by one of the leading members of the new generation of scholars of the Ku Klux Klan. Lay offers the first look beneath the hood and robe of the Invisible Empire in a northeastern stronghold. Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-175) and index. Review Quotes:"A first-rate study by one of the leading members of the new generation of scholars of the Ku Klux Klan. Lay offers the first look beneath the hood and robe of the Invisible Empire in a northeastern stronghold." -Robert A. Goldberg, author of "Hooded Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado"Review Quotes:"A welcome complement to recent work on the Klan in the South, West, and Midwest. This beautifully written, exhaustively researched, and even-handed study of the KKK in Buffalo is a model for future Klan scholarship."-Larry R. Gerlach, author of "Blazing Crosses in Zion: The Ku Klux Klan in Utah"Review Quotes: ("A first-rate study by one of the leading members of the new generation of scholars of the Ku Klux Klan. Lay offers the first look beneath the hood and robe of the Invisible Empire in a northeastern stronghold." )-(Robert A. Goldberg), (author of "Hooded Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado") Review Quotes: ("A welcome complement to recent work on the Klan in the South, West, and Midwest. This beautifully written, exhaustively researched, and even-handed study of the KKK in Buffalo is a model for future Klan scholarship.")-(Larry R. Gerlach), (author of "Blazing Crosses in Zion: The Ku Klux Klan in Utah") Review Quotes:"Most academic literature regarding firearms policy is one-sided advocacy scholarship. . . . This book seeks to create such a balance."-"Future Survey", Review Quotes: -, Review Quotes: A first-rate study by one of the leading members of the new generation of scholars of the Ku Klux Klan. Lay offers the first look beneath the hood and robe of the Invisible Empire in a northeastern stronghold. -Robert A. Goldberg, author of "Hooded Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado""Review Quotes: A welcome complement to recent work on the Klan in the South, West, and Midwest. This beautifully written, exhaustively researched, and even-handed study of the KKK in Buffalo is a model for future Klan scholarship. -Larry R. Gerlach, author of "Blazing Crosses in Zion: The Ku Klux Klan in Utah""Biographical Note: The award-winning author and editor of two previous books on the Ku Klux Klan, Shawn Lay teaches history at the University of Georgia. Publisher Marketing: They came in the dead of night, marking the homes and businesses of their enemies with crude symbols and dire warnings. They plotted against those of other religious faiths and circulated secret lists of alleged traitors to the community and nation. They mailed anonymous threats to those who refused to be intimidated into silence, all the while claiming that they were the true champions of American justice and freedom. The above may seem an accurate description of the sinister activities that distinguished the Ku Klux Klan in the early twentieth century, but in Buffalo, New York, and, in fact, throughout much of the northeastern United States, such activities were as characteristic of the Klan's opponents as of the hooded order itself. While the revived Klan of the 1920s-- the largest and most influential manifestation of organized intolerance in American history--proceeded with relative impunity in many locales, it encountered a very different situation in Buffalo where powerful enemies opposed the organization at every turn. Shawn Lay here provides a riveting portrayal of how the Klan established itself in Buffalo. Most chillingly, he explains how otherwise ordinary, well-established citizens, caught up in a complex set of circumstances, were persuaded to join a notorious secret society that pandered to the darkest impulses in American society.

Contributor Bio:  Lay, Shawn The award-winning author and editor of two previous books on the Ku Klux Klan, Shawn Lay teaches history at the University of Georgia. Contributor Bio:  McClurg, Andrew Andrew J. McClurg is professor of law at the Florida International University College of Law. Contributor Bio:  Kopel, David B David Kopel is Research Director at the Independence Institute in Golden, Colorado. Brannon Denning is Assistant Professor of Law at Southern Illinois University Law School. Contributor Bio:  Denning, Brannon Brannon Denning is Assistant Professor of Law at Southern Illinois University Law School.