The Burning: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921

Description

Essential reading as America finally comes to terms with its racial past. When first published in 2001, society apparently wasn't ready for such an unstinting narrative. After it was published, The Burning, like its subject matter, remained unknown to most in America. That has changed dramatically. "I began to suspect that a crucial piece remained missing from America's long attempts at racial reconciliation," Madigan wrote in 2001 in the author's note to The Burning. "Too many were oblivious to some of the darkest moments in our history, a legacy of which Tulsa is both a tragic example and a shameful metaphor. How can we heal when we don't know what we're healing from?" Now, 100 years after the massacre, Madigan brings new resonance to these questions in the reissue of this definitive work. Featuring a new afterword, The Burning places the Tulsa Massacre in a broader historical context. Rather than an exception, the massacre was completely consistent with that time in the United States, an era of Jim Crow, widespread lynching, and racism endorsed and promulgated at the highest levels of society. Such were the foundations of the systemic racism at the root of our problems today. With chilling details, humanity, and the narrative thrust of compelling fiction, The Burning recreates Greenwood and documents the subsequent silence that surrounded the tragedy.

In a journalism career spanning more than three decades, TIM MADIGAN has twice been named Texas Reporter of the Year in the state's most prestigious journalism competition. Tim's books include the critically acclaimed The Burning and I'm Proud of You: My Friendship With Fred Rogers. His most recent book, Of the First Class: A History of the Kimbell Art Museum, is a behind the scenes account of how the world-renowned Fort Worth cultural institution came to be.

Truly an eye-opening book, this is essential reading for anyone struggling to understand race relations in America. --Library Journal "Madigan somehow manages to tell the story of what happened with grace, purity and haunting starkness." --Buzz Bissinger "A powerful book, a harrowing case study made all the more so by Madigan's skillful, clear-eyed telling of it." --Adam Nossiter, The New York Times Book Review Before it was brought back into mainstream attention by HBO's Watchmen, author Tim Madigan explored the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 in this compelling fictional narrative that is well-researched and full of historical details. The Burning explores the hatred and mistrust that led to this terrible event in American history. --POPSUGAR A sobering, frightening account of what happens when that foul beast, racism, breaks its fragile leash. -- Kirkus, starred review Madigan's skill at description, dialogue and pacing keeps the reader's interest at peak levels. --Publishers Weekly Madigan provides a riveting account of one of the most shameful episodes in the troubled history of race relations in the U.S. This cultural and sociological dissection of a twentieth-century tragedy makes difficult but compelling reading. --Booklist The story of Greenwood is written in such chilling detail and clarity that one can almost smell the smoke and hear the cries. This is historical reporting at its best. --Larry Cox, Arizona Daily Star The Burning is a bold and worthwhile beginning. With its richness of horrifying detail, the book compels our attention, restoring the hateful episode's ghastly but necessary claim on the public conscience. --Morning Star-Telegram Mr. Madigan spins a moving story...a compelling work that brings its characters to life. --Dallas Morning News