This book definitely deserved its award! It’s was fantastic! I don’t have enough adjectives in my mouth right now to express how moving this true story was. The fact that this story is true is disgusting and shameful. I applaud those African Americans who had the courage to stand up not only for themselves but also for the generations to follow. Nothing like this should ever happen. Sadly the news still broadcasts ignorance and prejudice. I live in a city that had a similar situation as the Floyd case, but it was a woman and she was in her own home-INSIDE HER OWN HOME. The police went to the wrong house and now she is dead. Appalling! Will behavior like this ever go away? I don’t think so.

In perhaps one of the most searing indictments of the educational system which I have personally experienced, I learned about the coup in Wilmington through reading "Wilmington's Lie." I am a historian. I am from the region. I had an AP US History teacher who was progressive, thorough, and not from the South. I am also not so old as to have been exposed to education during the Jim Crow era. Yet here we are.

This is a masterfully done work that sheds light into the dark corners of our history. It was deserving of the Pulitzer and so much more. Please read it, teach it, and pass it on.

4.0 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. This is easily the most well-researched historical piece I have read to date. Paradoxically, that's why I both gave it four stars and why I took off a star. It was so rich in detail that it made it often challenging to read more than a few pages at a time. Nevertheless, I think every American should pick up Wilmington's Lie. David Zucchino paints the scene leading up to the Wilmington, NC riot and coup of 1898. After reading this, I am embarrassed--but wholly unsurprised-- that this terrible event was never recorded in the many U.S. history textbooks I studied throughout my education. I can only hope that CRT will become normalized as more accounts such as this get into the right hands.

Without divulging the hard work that David Zucchino put into this book, I will say that this account resonates more than ever. In the 1890s, Wilmington was a burgeoning mixed-race community. African Americans had the potential to make a fair wage and start their own businesses. However, such developments came were a double-edged sword. Southern white supremacists felt threatened by the changes they saw in Wilmington and looked for any opportunity to incite fear.
In 1898, these white supremacists called for white men to rise to the defense of Southern womanhood against the supposed threat of black predators. In response, the editor of the Record (Wilmington's African American newspaper) wrote that many relationships between white women and black men were consensual. His editorial ignited outrage across the South, with calls to lynch the editor. And so begins the Wilmington riots.

I have visited Wilmington, NC many times. I had no idea of the history that this place carried. I took my time in reading this book as I had to digest it in pieces. So much amazing information and it deserves the time to read and digest it. Amazing book, a must read. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my review.

Wilmington’s Lie is in essence the distillation of the chronology of events documenting the birth of white supremacy during the formative years of the Reconstruction era.

Zucchino posits that Wilmington in North Carolina (NC) in 1898 was the epicenter of the tragedy that became white prejudice, not just locally but nationally. Zucchino documents the corruption of the town’s establishments who together conspired to rig the voting system through violence. Subsequentially a clan of like minded citizens formed into a lose association that we now identify as the Klu Klux Klan, Red Shirts, and Malitia. These people then conspired together to comit murder against peaceful protesters and other members of their community.

Zucchino begins by explaining the tumultuous events that occurred on that Thursday, 10 November 1898 in the largest port city of NC.

Prior to the horrors that took place in Wilmington that day. The town had been a promising template for the advancement of Reconstruction. Those who were former vassal's had managed to establish a healthy and thriving community. In the town those persons formerly enslaved and freemen were found in all strata of the economic spectrum from Drs to lawyers, Newspaper owners to journalists, even shop owners and journeymen. In a town of 10,000 black people were in the majority?

The initial promise of the Wilmington model, however, was about to be derailed.

The span of the publication goes far beyond the discussion of the central theme. The echos of that year carried on and increased in intensity leading to wide spread prejudice that eventually became the Jim Crow Laws, racial segregation and a perfect storm of misery, poverty and wide spread disenfranchisement of the black population.

It is a sad fact that the shadow of Wilmington continues today to cast a blemish on current day events.

Historically the supremacists failed because whilst the United States have far to go to reach total equity, serious in-roads have been achieved, with more, far more to go.

Wilmington’s Lie is a rivetting, fascinating and compelling re-telling of the massacre and its fallout not just in 1898 but to the present day.

It made a profound and longlasting impression on me. I was unaware of the so Called Wilmington Riot and for me it was an education. One is left with more questions than answers not about the massacre but about the depth of mans inhumanity to man.

Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy is an interesting read and shows a terrible time in our country.
Five stars.

This is story that has never been told, (except to describe it as tamping down a riot, rather than the coup that it was) and it has great importance to our country now. Had events like the one described in the book not taken place, the U.S. would be a different place today and a better one. I was lucky enough to hear the author speak on his book tour. He gave even greater insight into the story and the sorry state of our country in the late 19th century.
The book also put many famous North Carolinians in a totally new light and not a good one.

Wilmington's Lie was a difficult and shaming book to read but also a brilliantly written and intensively researched history of the events that occurred in Wilmington, North Carolina, before, during and after the 1898 elections. Wilmington's white supremacists engineered a sustained and deliberate campaign of violence and intimidation, not to mention, election fraud, against the black citizens of Wilmington, in order to bring a halt to any progress following the end of the Civil War. Threatened and intimidated by successful black citizens, they used any means necessary to subjugate, and deny them their right to vote, live peacefully and earn an honest living. On the nights following the rigged election, thuggish Red Shirts, openly shot and murdered up to sixty, largely unarmed, black men. Hundreds of black families were forced to leave their homes and jobs and hide in the forests and swamp areas. At least fifty more prominent politicians and businesmen, were forcibly banished, white Republicans included. Despite campaigns to bring the perpetrators to justice, no white man was ever charged or convicted of any crime. In 2000, a specially put together commission gave its conclusion on the events of the 1898 - 'it was a documented conspiracy by white elites to overthrow a legitimately elected government through violence and intimidation. Federal and state authorities failed at all levels to respond to the violence or punish the perpetrators. The killings led directly to decades of Jim Crow discrimination and the disenfranchisement of that state's black citizens'.

An important account of a shameful and historic moment in America's history, and one that has repercussions to this day.

Wilmington's Lie is a dense history book. So much info about historical figures I never knew existed. Had to Google a few things in American history as I'm new to it. Would recommend to non-fic lovers.

There was a lot of history packed in this book. For the most part I found it to be an interesting read and there weren't many characters mentioned that didn't play some big part in the history. At times it was a bit sluggish as history can be, but the telling was done in a chronological order that made sense to me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing a copy of this book to read and review. Opinions expressed in the review are my own.

A look at a time in our history that was sad ugly told through diaries articles moments in our history.This time was sad ugly moments where racism stood out .This book brings us back to that time makes it come alive.aAn important book. Would make a great book for book club discussions.#groveatlantic#netgalley

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is one of the untold stories, known by the relative few, of the horrible legacy of racism in the US. The Civil War did not end the problems that slavery engendered. This is the story of race riots and the domination of Wilmington by whites who would not give up their percieved superiority over blacks. The characters are unfortunately not very well developed and the wroiting style is somewhat dry.

I first learned of the Wilmington Coup of 1898 when I wrote an English paper on the topic in undergrad. I developed a mild obsession with this historical event because I'm a NC native and I grew up in a town 100 miles away from Wilmington and was never taught about the coup in public school. After writing the paper, I read two great novels based on the coup: The Marrow of Tradition and Cape Fear Rising. Wilmington's Lie is the first full length nonfiction treatment that I have read.

Zucchino's book does not just tell the story of the coup in 1898 but it also chronicles the rise of white supremacy in NC after Reconstruction and in other Southern states. Zucchino's effectively shows that the Manly editorial was not the pivotal event that led to the coup. As you will learn in this book the coup was just one part of a concerted effort, a conspiracy, by racist White Democrats to take power away from the Fusion movement of White and Black Populists/Republicans. Propaganda, racist speeches, voter intimidation, and ballot stuffing were all a part of the campaign leading up to the coup.

Zucchino's work uses a variety of sources to tell this story. One of the most effective is his use of contemporary news articles not just from the local papers but national papers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. This national coverage of the event struck me. Zucchino shows how the initial coverage was inaccurate because most of the sources were from the white supremacists who took over the government in Wilmington. On top of that he uncovers the myth making that took place for a century until a commission's report revealed the truth. Lastly, the author makes a convincing connection between the voter disenfranchisement of yesteryear to the current disenfranchisement of today. The only big difference, that I don't think the author acknowledges, is the violence that was used back then is not being used now. Wilmington's Lie is definitely a must read book especially of you are unfamiliar with the events and want to know more about the first and only coup in the United States.

They didn't want mediation. They didn't want arbitration. They didn't want compromise. They did not value understanding. They showed up armed to peaceful opposition protests and menaced the people that they disagreed with.

They publicly embraced law and order until law and order became an obstacle to achieving their ends. They manufactured outrage on the flimsiest pretexts. They repeated and reprinted lies and innuendo to whip up outrage. They publicly stated that they would pursue their ends by fraud and violence if legal methods did not work.

They supported the formation of lawless mobs, and then pleaded ignorance when mob violence went out of control.

They were the white supremacists of 1898 in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The story of the race riot and successful electoral coup in Wilmington has been told before. This new history comes with the awareness that white supremacists are at it again in our time. In the light of this, the book does not make for cheerful reading, as the perpetrators of all outrages portrayed in this book achieved the political ends they wished and none were ever even brought anywhere close to justice. As for their victims, the lucky ones escaped with the clothes they stood up in and made it to other destinations that, while certainly not free of racism, were at least away from the drunken mob seeking to set fire to their homes and shoot their families.

I write this months before the book's scheduled release date, so the trolls and apologists for racism have not yet arrived to pollute this page on Goodreads. Enjoy it while you can – they are on their way. You will know them as they deploy phrases like “so-called white supremacists”, as they accuse the author of fomenting divisiveness for personal and political gain, as they attempt to link this book to present-day media personalities and political agendas that they disagree with.

The plain fact of 1898 Wilmington is that people attempted to peacefully exercise the legal rights that the law allowed them, and for their trouble a mob of racists killed them or ruined their lives. Still today, an apology without reservation or excuses is apparently too much to ask. It was a shameful episode then and continues to be shameful today. Don't forget it. Read about it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atlantic Monthly Press for a free advance egalley copy of this book for review.

I have to admit, I'm actually a little embarrassed that I didn't know most of the events that this book relates before reading it. I'm now very glad that I read this book. These events are n important part of American history, although they are hard to digest and make you wonder about the senselessness of racism and the attitudes that sadly still appear in our modern society.

This is a very well-written work that is not only interesting and factual but emotionally provoking as well. I found as I was reading this that it made me want to learn more, and also made me question how I had missed so much of this in my education, especially as someone who makes a living studying various forms of persecution. Now that this is on my radar, I am interested in learning more about it, and I can thank the author for that.

This is an important book and should be read by all. I think it is important to know this history and to share the knowledge with others, to keep things like this from happening again. I thanks the author for doing such a lot of work to present this book in a manner that is accessible and readable for everyone, not just scholars.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

Powerful historical look at the painful history we once lived and still live in many ways today. Learning about and accepting our history is a great way to avoud a future with repeated turmoil.

North Carolina is complicated. It lost Unionists to Confederate gallows during the Civil War but also was the home of a white supremacist overthrow of a legitimate American government. This book is an excellent history of the latter.

This is such a powerful and moving examination of a deeply significant but disturbing episode in African American history that it was at times quite painful and difficult to read. To understand the present you need to have an appreciation of the past and this majestic, scholarly but always accessible account of the reasons and motivations of what was in effect a white supremacist armed and illegal seizure of power will undoubtedly help.

In 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina, was one of the most advanced (however limited) cities in the old Confederate South in terms of African American representation in civic society. They were represented in local law enforcement, the judiciary, the legislature, the fire department and commerce with a vibrant and expanding middle class. Although segregation was in existence it was was far less onerous than elsewhere in the South. However this situation was an anathema to the white supremacists who's views had remained unchanged since the Civil War and were much in evidence in the of the higher echelons of society.

Following their victory in the November 1898 mid-term elections by intimidation and ballot rigging the scene was set for them to go onto the streets two days later and embark on a day of killing and ethnic cleansing. This would result in at least sixty innocent African American dead and hundreds more fleeing the city some never to return. Things would never be the same again and white supremacy would be cemented later through African American disenfranchisement through changes in the system of voter registration (sound familiar) that would be copied throughout the South.

Personally there were several shocking things that I found in this narrative which included the fact that the white night riders known as Red Shirts would be assisted later on that fateful day by the local state militiamen who were supposed to be the upholders of law and order. Also the lack of action and the later reluctance of the Federal Government to take any action. Similarly the virulent racist propaganda of the local press owned by white supremacists could have been expected but the way the supremacists version of events and narrative was unquestioningly accepted by supposedly reputable journals such as the New York Times was not.

The book is extensively researched with quotations from the local press, publications and speeches made at the time. There are also present day interviews with the surviving relatives of some of the key players. In 1998 to mark the anniversary of the killings and after the previous accepted narrative that this was a black uprising or a race riot were challenged and demolished attempts were made at some kind of reconciliation but this proved far from successful. The scars are still there and the issue of Confederate statues and the flag is subject of deep controversy. One thing is clear, the whole issue of race in modern America needs to be handled by all in civic society with much care and sensitivity and on no account should race be used for electoral advantage. (good luck with that one). I'm not an American but have always had a deep interest in its history, politics and culture and this book I would hope will find its way into many libraries and places of education. If I ever visit the USA I would certainly like to visit Wilmington as it forms an integral part of the nation's history. A very recommended read.

Wow. This book. So many parallels to our current situation and I’m heartbroken that our path so narrowly missed a more enlightened one. One of the statistics that stood out to me was the number of registered black voters plummeting from 126,000 to 6,500. And the media’s part in the coverup was interesting to me as well. A book I will be highly recommending both online and in real life.