A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction
by Kidada E. Williams
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jan 2023
384 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
From a groundbreaking scholar, a heart-wrenching reexamination of the struggle for survival in the Reconstruction-era South, and what it cost.
The story of Reconstruction is often told from the perspective of the politicians, generals, and journalists whose accounts claim an outsized place in collective memory. But this pivotal era looked very different to African Americans in the South transitioning from bondage to freedom after 1865. They were besieged by a campaign of white supremacist violence that persisted through the 1880s and beyond. For too long, their lived experiences have been sidelined, impoverishing our understanding of the obstacles post-Civil War Black families faced, their inspiring determination to survive, and the physical and emotional scars they bore because of it.
In I Saw Death Coming, Kidada E. Williams offers a breakthrough account of the much-debated Reconstruction period, transporting readers into the daily existence of formerly enslaved people building hope-filled new lives. Drawing on overlooked sources and bold new readings of the archives, Williams offers a revelatory and, in some cases, minute-by-minute record of nighttime raids and Ku Klux Klan strikes. And she deploys cutting-edge scholarship on trauma to consider how the effects of these attacks would linger for decades--indeed, generations--to come.
For readers of Carol Anderson, Tiya Miles, and Clint Smith, I Saw Death Coming is an indelible and essential book that speaks to some of the most pressing questions of our times.
"Powerful and deeply moving ... I Saw Death Coming bears witness to a dark malignancy in American history, one we have never fully excised." ―The Los Angeles Times
"I Saw Death Coming is an unflinching and deeply compassionate account of what Black people accomplished, lost and fought for in resisting the war on freedom. It is about what it meant not just to live through, but live with, the violence and its traumatic effects on individuals, families and communities. This is what will stay with you when you put down this book. As will the question of what is owed to survivors and their descendants, as the author put it: what 'Americans who claim to believe in liberty owe them today." ―The Washington Post
"Wrenching and urgent … from the moment slavery ended, through the era of segregation, and up to today, racial terrorism has been, for most Black Americans, too real to ignore. But rather than sink into despair, many Black Americans have leaned on forms of Black cultural expression―call it the blues―to find a way out of no way." -New Republic
"Extraordinary ... Williams offers an insightful reexamination of the Reconstruction period and the African American people who lived through it. By centering formerly enslaved peoples' experiences, Williams challenges previous exclusion, misrepresented understandings and disputed legacies." ―Ms. Magazine
"[Williams'] ability to trace select families through the decades truly reveals the lasting negative effect of Reconstruction-era terror on those who had hope snatched away. She reveals the seeds of social racism from the past, which sadly remain firmly planted. A recommended heart-wrenching read that provides significant insight into the historical basis of racial conflict in the United States." ―Library Journal (starred review)
"Gripping … [Williams] pays tribute to Black families' resilience and determination … This harrowing report hits home." ―Publishers Weekly
"Altogether timely … A deeply researched work that exposes the shameful legacy of the neo-Confederacy, one that lingers to this day." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Adds depth and nuance to our understanding about what life was like for Black people during this critical period of American history." ―California Review of Books
"Reading these survivors' words, even from a distance of time and place, is excruciating. Untold numbers of men, women, and children suffered sadistic abuse during the time America was allegedly healing from the Civil War. Yet 'this history faded from national memory,' Williams writes. By focusing on the people she ensures that their heroism is no longer forgotten and our country's history is accurately portrayed." ―Washington Independent Review of Books
"In this powerful and haunting account of the war on Black families and communities that followed the Civil War, Kidada Williams shows that she is one of the nation's most essential historians. With painstaking care, she looks unflinchingly at the accounts that survivors and witnesses of racist attacks gave in their own words. The result is a shattering narrative of Reconstruction that attends both to what formerly enslaved people managed to build after emancipation and to all that was taken away from them in the maelstrom of violence that followed." ―W. Caleb McDaniel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sweet Taste of Liberty
"Intimate, inspiring, and heart-wrenching … Williams has amplified the voices of survivors and taught us that their stories are 'essential to understanding why, more than a century and a half later, our struggle continues.'" ―Florida Courier
"In this powerful and haunting account of the war on Black families and communities that followed the Civil War, Kidada Williams shows that she is one of the nation's most essential historians. With painstaking care, she looks unflinchingly at the accounts that survivors and witnesses of racist attacks gave in their own words. The result is a shattering narrative of Reconstruction that attends both to what formerly enslaved people managed to build after emancipation and to all that was taken away from them in the maelstrom of violence that followed." - W. Caleb McDaniel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sweet Taste of Liberty
"Writing with both great insight and passion, Kidada E. Williams shows how Black southerners navigated the hardships of their lives in freedom in I Saw Death Coming. Their hope and determination provoked the ire of white supremacists who attacked Black homes and families, launching a second civil war to overthrow Reconstruction. The stories of these men and women who endured tremendous violence, persevered, and gave voice to their experiences will remain with you long after you finish this powerful and heart-wrenching book." ―Megan Kate Nelson, author of The Three-Cornered War and Saving Yellowstone
"In sharing the eloquent testimony, much previously unseen, of the freedmen and -women who lived and struggled through the overthrow of Reconstruction, Kidada Williams has given us a landmark work that will enlarge our understanding of U.S. history." ―Philip Dray, ulitzer Prize finalist, author of At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America
"In this fascinating study, Kidada Williams employs superb scholarship to reveal what freed people did for themselves and their communities in the wake of the Civil War, just as she exposes the brutal campaign of terror waged by white southerners who sought to reimpose a lost antebellum world. Williams artfully allows her readers to see these struggles through the eyes of those who built schools and churches and forged political campaigns in hopes of transforming their region. A profound work of the utmost importance for anyone who wishes to understand the Reconstruction era." ―Douglas Egerton, author of The Wars of Reconstruction
This information about I Saw Death Coming was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kidada E. Williams is a native of Muskegon, Michigan. She is an assistant professor of History at Wayne State University in Detroit. She teaches courses on African American history, slavery, civil rights, and lynching and racial violence. She lives in Detroit.
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