Years of Rage : White Supremacy in the United States from the Klan to the Alt-right

Years of Rage is a revealing—and frightening—history of the many and varied white supremacist groups that have operated in the United States from the rebirth of the Klan in 1915 through to the rise of the alt-right and the presidency of Donald J. Trump. Historian D. J. Mulloy explores the motivations and underlying beliefs of these racists, their fears of displacement, their propaganda, their propensity to commit acts of violence and terrorism, and their deep and unwavering sense of rage. He also considers the important role played by women within the movement, as well as white supremacy’s deep roots in American society. Indeed, Mulloy demonstrates that rather than being consigned to the margins of American history, at times—the 1920s; the 1950s; the presidency of Trump—white supremacy has been remarkably close to the center.

Wide-ranging yet accessible, Years of Rage examines a host of fascinating topics and events including the skillful promotion of the Klan by professional salesmen during the 1920s, the vicious campaign of violence directed against the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s, the development of a Nazi-Klan alliance during the 1970s, the centrality of esoteric religious beliefs like Identity Christianity to many white supremacists, the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, and the critical role played by the Internet, social media, and Donald Trump to the startling resurgence of far right in our own time.

D. J. Mulloy is Chair and Professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier University, where he specializes in the study of post-1945 U.S. history. He is the author of American Extremism: History, Politics and the Militia Movement (2004), The World of the John Birch Society: Conspiracy, Conservatism and the Cold War (2014) and Enemies of the State: The Radical Right in America from FDR to Trump.