By legitimizing bigotry and redefining so-called American values, a revived Klan in the 1920s left a toxic legacy that demands reexamination today.

"A new Ku Klux Klan arose in the early 1920s, a less violent but equally virulent descendant of the relatively small, terrorist Klan of the 1870s. Unknown to most Americans today, this 'second Klan' largely flourished above the Mason-Dixon Line--its army of four-to-six-million members spanning the continent from New Jersey to Oregon, its ideology of intolerance shaping the course of mainstream national politics throughout the twentieth century...Never secret, this Klan recruited openly, through newspaper ads, in churches, and through extravagant mass 'Americanism' pageants, often held on Independence Day. These 'Klonvocations' drew tens of thousands and featured fireworks, airplane stunts, children's games, and women's bake-offs--and, of course, cross-burnings. The Klan even controlled about one hundred and fifty newspapers, as well as the Cavalier Motion Picture Company, dedicated to countering Hollywood's 'immoral'--and Jewish--influence. The Klan became a major political force, electing thousands to state offices and over one hundred to national offices..."--Dust jacket flap.