Klandestine: The untold story of Delmar Dennis and his role in the FBI's war against the Ku Klux Klan - Hardcover

Mcilhany, William H. II

9780870002953: Klandestine: The untold story of Delmar Dennis and his role in the FBI's war against the Ku Klux Klan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0870002953 ISBN 13: 9780870002953

Publisher: Arlington House Publishers, 1975

Dust jacket notes: "One of the sensational news stories of 1964 was the murder in Missisippi of civil rights activists Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney. Now the full story can be told. Klandestine is the first account to report on the Rev. Delmar Dennis, principal FBI underground operative in the Ku Klux Klan. A Methodist minister now active in the John Birch Society, Rev. Dennis faced peril as he led two lives, as Klansman and as government spy. Nor did his troubles end when he surfaced at the trial in Jackson. He was harassed on the streets of his hometown, Meridian. His family broke up under the pressure. He lost his job. Attempts were made to depict him as a fugitive and haul him up before a pro-Klan judge. Twice his life was threatened. But Mr. Dennis stood firm, sustained by faith in God and faith in his country. Klandestine is a chilling look inside the Klan and its world of violence, hatred - and cowardice. We follow Delmar Dennis from his initiation into the White Knights to his role as trusted aide to Grand Wizard Sam H. Bowers Jr. Long a staunch opponent of Communism, Rev. Dennis quickly saw how alien the Klan is to the American way of life, despite its pretensions to Christianity and patriotism. Was there a hidden purpose behind Bowers' attempts to create race war in Mississippi? Each reader will form his own judgment, but perhaps Bowers himself dropped a clue when he remarked, 'The typical Mississippi redneck doesn't have sense enough to know what he is doing. I have to use him for my own cause and direct his every action to fit my plan.' Included in the appendices: eye-opening official Klan documents, many not available to the public elsewhere. Among them are the texts of the initiation ceremony and constitution of the White Knights, as well as secret instructions and speeches from the Grand Wizard. It all adds up to a rare look at the underside of American politics."

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