Sons of Mississippi

 
“Paul Hendrickson starts this book with the simplest of things, an old photo taken 40 years ago of some Mississippi sheriffs gathered to make their stand in one of the final battles of the Civil Rights movement — the integration of Ole Miss. Then he deftly opens up the photo, finding the men themselves, their children and their grandchildren. And in the process in this haunting, lyrical book, the past becomes the present and the present becomes the past.” — David Halberstam 
 

“Intelligence, subtlety, and the nuances of history glitter on every page of this elegant and moving book. Hendrickson isolates one minute in time and, like a sculptor approaching a granite block, he chips and chisels at it until he reveals the human forms, the human truths — hatred and bitterness, misgiving and courage, cruelty and generosity — packed in a tangled embrace within it.” — Melissa Fay Greene
 
“Beautifully written, meticulously reported, Sons of Mississippi is a remarkable book. The story of the victims of racism in this country has been told and should keep being told. But we desperately need this portrait of the oppressors, and the legacy they bequeathed. This is not only an invaluable book on vital aspects of the civil rights struggle, but a lasting work of modern American history.” — Gay Talese