Books like Devils Walking by Stanley Nelson

In “Devils Walking: Klan Murders along the Mississippi in the 1960s” Pulitzer Prize finalist Stanley Nelson chronicles his exhaustive research into a local Klan subgroup that terrorized northeast Louisiana and Mississippi during the Civil Rights era. Centered on the brutal 1964 arson attack that killed Frank Morris, the book reveals how the group, led in part by factory worker Red Glover, operated under the guise of civilian life and embedded former law‑enforcement officers in their ranks. Nelson draws on hundreds of interviews with witnesses, suspects, and former Klan members, while documenting the systemic corruption and deception that allowed the murders to remain unsolved for decades. His work was pivotal in reopening the cases, prompting the first grand jury hearing, and giving voice to the victims’ families, thereby underscoring the ongoing need to confront the legacy of racism.

First publish date: 2016