A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them

4.7 | 5,965 ratings

Price: 12.99

Last update: 12-15-2024

About this item

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A Washington Post Notable Work of Nonfiction • An NPR Best Book of the Year • A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year • A Chicago Review of Books Best Book of the Year • A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year • A Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist

"With narrative elan, Egan gives us a riveting saga of how a predatory con man became one of the most powerful people in 1920s America, Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, with a plan to rule the country—and how a grisly murder of a woman brought him down. Compelling and chillingly resonant with our own time." —Erik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile

“Riveting…Egan is a brilliant researcher and lucid writer.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

A historical thriller by the Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning author that tells the riveting story of the Klan's rise to power in the 1920s, the cunning con man who drove that rise, and the woman who stopped them.

The Roaring Twenties--the Jazz Age--has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.

Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he’d become the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows – their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman – Madge Oberholtzer – who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees.

A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND marries a propulsive drama to a powerful and page-turning reckoning with one of the darkest threads in American history.

A NYT bestseller, an NPR Best Book of the Year, A WP notable work: A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND

Powerful... As a narrative, A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND is gripping, say The New York Times Book Review

A master class in the tools of narrative nonfiction, high stakes, ample suspense, says The WP

Compelling and chillingly resonant with our time, says Erik Larson about FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND

Top reviews from the United States

jhbandcats

Astonishing, terrifying

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2024

This book is astonishing. Like all of Egan’s work, it’s well-researched, well-organized, and well-written. He’s an excellent chronicler of American history.

But the most astonishing thing is that this book is a mirror of contemporary events, happening a hundred years after the rise of the KKK. I kept highlighting passages that could have been written today, quotations that could have been said today. It’s as though 1924 has been resurrected. It’s terrifying.

This is an essential read. Essential.

mmk

Astonishing history

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2024

This isn’t an easy read, but it’s wonderfully written, compelling and timely, despite the fact that the events take place in the early1920’s. Anyone who cares about the direction of our country should read this book.

Debbie Lopez

An education of history I never knew!!

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2024

Eye-opening, scary, riveting!! A must read for history buffs!! Never had I ever heard of Indiana's history. Madge was an amazing woman.

research woman

Recommended to history buffs

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2024

Fascinating and easy read about the KKK's takeover of the state of Indiana in the 1920s. Parallels to current events come to mind while reading this compelling book.

Important Historical Events

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2024

A Fever In the Heartland is a fascinating historical book describing the events of the Ku Klux Klan in the early United States of America. While reading this book, I often found myself gasping at the prospect of a whole population violently discriminating minorities. These minority groups were very similar to the everyday people of the KKK; however the small things, such as skin color, religion, or sexual identities posed them as a ‘threat.’ This book finds humor in the most unexpected places, and melancholy in others. After finishing this book I still wonder why this information of the KKK isn’t taught in our school educational system. It seems to be barely mentioned—if at all. It amazes me how little our future generations know of the hate group that nearly took control of the country! I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to further their understanding of the true history behind the United States.

Susan S.

What you Never Knew About the KKK

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024

I had to read this for the bookclub: it went into the history of the KKK in the 1920's mid-America. Another history book I thought and wondered if it would put me to sleep. BUT the story becomes both scary and exciting as you read on. While it is actually the history of the rise of the Klan in Indiana (with much footnotes in the back to prove the accuracy of the story), it traces the rise and fall of the KKK in middle America (the Heartland of the title). It is the story of both the great evil of the Klan leaders and finally of the bravery of one woman, her family, the reporters, the lawyers, and the jury members who fought the Klan. Very thought provoking while being true to the history of the rise and downfall of the Klan which reached deep into the politics, governance, and police of a Northern state that sided with the Union during the Civil War and then lost its way in the 1920's. A good read!

Kathleen Hendrix

Seemingly Good Americans Follow Evil Conman.

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2024

Many Americans today scratch their heads and wonder how so many of our peers can almost blindly follow a politician who has been convicted of felons and spouts misogynistic and racist beliefs. Reading "A Fever in the Heartland" takes the reader into another time when seemingly good midwesterners did just that. The book is a well researched but easy to read book. Nonfiction but reads like a novel. I couldn't put it down!

Carolina Shopper

True story, hard topics, but learned a lot

Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2024

I purchased this book for an assigned book club read. The book covers real events, that I was not previously well-versed in, so I learned a lot; but it is a HEAVY read, meaning difficult subject matter to wade through. This was the opposite of a "page turner" for me, because after reading a bit, I'd need a break from the intensity of the story. I appreciate the author's dedication in presenting this story in book form, and would recommend it, but it is definitely informative and enlightening rather than an "entertaining" read.

Best Sellers in

Between Now and Forever

4.5 621

3.99

The Christmas Tree Farm: TikTok Made Me Buy It (Dream Harbor, Book 3)

4.1 7379

1.99

The Very Naughty List

4.4 2945

5.99

Snowed In: A completely hilarious fake dating, forced proximity romantic comedy (Catherine Walsh Christmas romcoms)

4.3 19486

3.99

The Drowning Game

4.3 813

1.99

When She Returned

4.2 57857

4.99

The Plight Before Christmas : An Un-EX-pected Sugar and Spice Christmas Romance (Holiday Hijinx Series Book 1)

4.5 16674

4.99

Elf Against the Wall: A Holiday Romantic Comedy (The Wynter Brothers Book 2)

4.1 2954