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Devil In The Grove: Thurgood Marshall, The Groveland Boys, And The Dawn Of A New America (2012)

by Gilbert King(Favorite Author)

4.29 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0062097717 (ISBN13: 9780062097712)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Harper

review 1: I was not raised and have not lived in the USA, therefore the whole racial issue in the American society is not one I have come to experience from very close. Occasional readings, articles, films, discussions. Reading this book really puts you in the heart of the matter. If you thought you knew about the Ku Klux Klan and what the racial issue in the US south was/is, you probably didn't. The every day details, the way of thinking (from both sides), the excruciating effort to achieve equality and the years it took to conquer every single right, is described breath-takingly in this book. After you get starting, you will not be able to put it down. Only one problem with the narrative: the writer has some problem deciding on how to present his subject and his characters in the ... morefirst chapters of the book. He wants to give us a general perspective on what the situation was, and who Thurgood Marshall and the people working with him were, but he jumps back and forth in time, cases, and characters, losing his focus. However, after a while, he seems to find his line of narrative, and the book just takes off. And you follow the case of the Groveland Boys as if you are actually living the facts back then in Florida.
review 2: Walt Disney himself said that "Walt Disney World is the happiest place on Earth." It's shocking then that just thirty miles away in Groveland, a not so happy place existed in pre-Civil Rights Florida. That's what was going through my mind the entire time I read "Devil in the Grove.""Devil" is loaded with detail. Indeed, Gilbert King provides backstories of characters and events. Several moments in the book gripped me with fascination, shock, anger, and etcetera. It is a nonfiction story filled with court room/law drama. I recommend this book to everybody. It is impossible to not respect the courage of Civil Rights pioneers like Thurgood Marshall, Franklin Williams, and all their colleagues who braved trips into the vicious tyranny of a hardcore, racist south. These professionals were forced to endure humiliation and oppression, like being forced to participate in high speed car chases from KKK/law enforcement after trials. If they were caught by their police pursuers, they would surely be lynched. No wonder African Americans have a bitter history with law enforcement. Furthermore, anyone who championed equality in Lake County and surrounding areas, like certain journalists and citizens, also deserve praise for standing up for what was right. I deplored Willis McCall - an irredeemable excuse for a human being. It is shocking he was able to remain sheriff as long as he did. Most of us have had vacations in Florida - all I can say is that I'll never look at the "Sunshine State" in the same way again. "Devil" had a powerful effect on me - it moved me in a way that only a book can. It has class, political, and racial literary theories that I hope will also have a moving impact on high school students. Change happens slowly in the United States. Slavery was abolished in the 1860s yet it took a whole century before blacks started having rights. This statement is supported by the myriad instances of abuse, mistreatment, injustice, unfairness, cruelty, oppression, violence, and inhumanity African Americans experienced in this novel. Learning about institutional racism is nothing new to me, but it never ceases to shock - especially when presented and researched so thoroughly as it was in this book. There are a handful of turning points in "Devil" that make you acknowledge that truth is stranger than fiction. Check out this riveting work of American history which tells of a largely unknown chapter about our nation's quest for justice and equality. less

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