The Clansman

Surprisingly this was significantly less racist than "The Leopards Spots." By no means is that to say its not racist, but there was a lot more about the relationship between northern white folks and southern white folk. Though they did seem to hint that the antagonist may have been cheating on his wife with his black servant. I was automatically surprised when in the introduction one of the characters was written as "Abraham Lincoln . . The Friend of the South" particularly as my understanding is that Lincoln's election as a Republican is what led to South Carolina, and eventually the rest of the south, succeeding from the union. Like the predecessor the names of the chapters and the table of contents gave away a lot of its story. But I show more found it otherwise well written, most nights wanting to read several chapters well past my bedtime. It didn't seem related at all to The Leopards Spots from a character standpoint, but I read that several years ago so I may have forgotten some minor character? I'll read The Traitor right away so as not to get the same experience. show less

Recommend - not for literary excellence, but for seeing racism from a historical perspective. I think we forget just how truly vile (in this book, black) racism is, and tend to only see it as a dislike... "he's a racist" seems to mean nowadays that "he doesn't like XXX" and, while we think negatively of racism, the deeply reprehensible actions and opinions that go along with racism are overlooked. This book is good in that it shows the language of racism and it's difficult to read such language. Whereas nowadays the n-word or a monkey-caricature is all that is needed to incite digust, in this book the n-word is a common word and the real vileness that is racism comes out in flaming form. Definitely worth the read.

The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan is a novel published in 1905, the second work in the Ku Klux Klan trilogy by Thomas Dixon Jr. (the others are The Leopard's Spots and The Traitor). Chronicling the American Civil War and Reconstruction era from a pro-Confederate perspective, it presents the Ku Klux Klan heroically. The novel was adapted first by the author as a highly successful play entitled The Clansman (1905), and a decade later by D. W. Griffith in the 1915 movie The Birth of a Nation.

A journey into the racist underbelly of the beast... Curious if you have strong gag reflex.

Notorious book glorifying the KKK, basis of Griffith's film Birth of a Nation; this copy belonged to my grandfather who was the son of a Confederate veteran in NC.

271. The Clansman An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan, by Thomas Dixon (read 25 Jul 1946) I started to read this book on July 22, 1946, and on that day said: "I despise the book and its thesis." On July 23 I said: "Reading in that maddening Clansman. Author deserved shooting."