29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
About more than prejudice, August 17, 2004
This review is from: Notre Dame Vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan (Hardcover)
If I had not been familiar with the author of this book, then I might not have picked it up. After reading it, I can assure you that would have been my loss.
As the title indicates, this book is about the obvious: prejudice. But it is about so much more than that, including power, self-doubt, greed, salesmanship, vulnerability and belonging, just to name some of the weighty matters discussed here. These themes resonate far beyond the time and place of this historic conflict between Notre Dame students and the Ku Klux Klan.
The author is not heavy handed. Whether describing Father Matthew Walsh or Klansman D.C. Stephenson, he spends more time trying to understand his characters than judging them.
Thankfully, in my opinion, this does not read like a history text. It's clear that a lot of painstaking research was involved in the project. The author, however, provides just enough background for the context of the unfolding events without ever interfering with the story. He also makes it all relevant today by sharing his own personal experiences with us.
I was most impressed with the vivid imagery the author employed. I could easily visualize all the pageantry of a Klan picnic, complete with jugglers and marching bands. Similarly, I could almost feel the exact moment at which the youthful exuberance of the Notre Dame students turned to fear as the two groups clashed on the streets of South Bend.
Whether you are Catholic or Protestant - from Middle America or New York City - this book has something for you. It is an easy read. It transitions nicely between places, people and events, while always building nicely toward a frenetic ending. Reading this book is like watching a fuse burn all the way down until the inevitable explosion happens.
Don't make the mistake I almost made. Be sure to pick it up.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A story worth telling, September 30, 2004
This review is from: Notre Dame Vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan (Hardcover)
Todd Tucker's new book, "Notre Dame vs. The Klan" is one of those efforts that reports an incident in American history and helps to broaden its larger scope in the process. In doing so, the author has enlightened his readers as to what the climate might have been like in Indiana in 1924.
Tucker gives a decent overview of the Klan's history and gives a more fascinating look at the emerging prominence of Notre Dame. This book would be an ideal primer for Notre Dame students (one of my former students plays on the current Notre Dame football squad) and to that end, I think this book has merit. However, linking the Notre Dame incident and the Klan's demise is more than a bit of a stretch. Historical novels tend to see things in a more readable light but even given the author's admission of creating a narrative of his own, I commend his efforts.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Legendary Event in the History of the Fighting Irish, September 11, 2005
This review is from: Notre Dame Vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan (Hardcover)
I am a Notre Dame graduate(class of 1959)and had heard of this clash between the ND student body and KKK, but I knew only the barest details. Therefore, this book was most welcome. It not only covers the 1924 confrontation in almost minute-by-minute detail but serves as a fascinating informal history of both the KKK, especially its post-"Birth of a Nation" spread in the North, and of the University itself from its 1842 founding date. The book should therefore be fascinating to any ND alum, including those of the subway variety, and would probably be of interest to a general readership was well.
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