Gilbert King has written about U.S. Supreme Court history for the New York Times and the Washington Post, and is a featured contributor to Smithsonian magazine's history blog, Past Imperfect. He is the author of The Execution of Willie Francis: Race, Murder, and the Search for Justice in the American South. He lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters.
“This story about four young black men who were accused of the rape
of a white woman in Lake County, Fla., in 1949 — and what the local
sheriff and his cronies, who were itching for a lynching, got away
with — is a must-read, cannot-put-down history.”
*Thomas Friedman, New York Times*
“A powerful and well-told drama of Southern injustice.”
*The Chicago Tribune*
“Devil in the Grove is a compelling look at the case that forged
Thurgood Marshall’s perception of himself as a crusader for civil
rights. . . . King’s style [is] at once suspenseful and
historically meticulous”
*Christian Science Monitor*
“Superb.”
*Junot Diaz, author of This Is How You Lose Her*
“Recreates an important yet overlooked moment in American history
with a chilling, atmospheric narrative that reads more like a
Southern Gothic novel than a work of history.”
*Salon*
“A taut, intensely readable narrative.”
*Boston Globe*
“The story’s drama and pathos make it a page-turner, but King’s
attention to detail, fresh material, and evenhanded treatment of
the villains make it a worthy contribution to the history of the
period, while offering valuable insight into Marshall’s work and
life.”
*Publishers Weekly*
“A thoroughgoing study of one of the most important civil-rights
cases argued by Thurgood Marshall in dismantling Jim Crow
strictures. . . . Deeply researched and superbly composed.”
*Kirkus Reviews (starred review)*
“A compelling chronicle.”
*Booklist*
“Gripping. . . . Lively and multidimensional.”
*Dallas Morning News*
“The tragic Groveland saga -- with its Faulknerian echoes of racial
injustice spinning around an accusation of rape -- comes
astonishingly alive in Gilbert King’s narrative. It is both
heartbreaking and unforgettable.”
*Wil Haygood, author of King of the Cats: The Life and Times of
Adam Clayton Powell Jr.*
“In the terrifying story of the Groveland boys Gilbert King
recreates an extraordinary moment in America’s long, hard struggle
for racial justice. Devil in the Grove is a harrowing, haunting,
utterly mesmerizing book.”
*Kevin Boyle, author of Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil
Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age*
“Gilbert King’s gut-wrenching, and captivating, narrative is civil
rights literature at its best--meticulously researched, brilliantly
written, and singularly focused on equal justice for all.”
*Michael G. Long, author of Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil
Rights Letters of Thurgood Marshall*
“This is a haunting and compelling story, one of many in the
campaign for racial justice. . . . This book is important because
it is disturbing. And in that regard we cannot walk away from the
story it tells.”
*Phyllis Vine, author of One Man's Castle*
“Gilbert King has done a remarkable job of weaving together
history, sociology, law and detective work of his own, to reveal
facts that even I, one of the defense counsel in the case, had not
been aware of until now.”
*Jack Greenberg, Alphonse Fletcher Professor of Law, Columbia
University, former Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund.*
“[An] excellent book on a little known and horrifying incident in
which four young black men were rounded up and accused of raping a
white woman, readers cannot help but be awed by the bravery of
those who took a stand in the late 1940s and early 1950s.”
*San Francisco Chronicle*
“Its rich case history captures the beginning of the end of the
most extreme forms of racism. . . . Very few books combine this
depth of research and narrative power about a subject of such
pivotal significance.”
*Ira Katznelson, author of When Affirmative Action Was White
and a former president of the American Political Science
Association*
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