A Fever In The Heartland by Timothy Egan

A New York Times Bestseller, National Book Award winner, and Pulitzer Prize recipient, this riveting historical thriller from Timothy Egan illuminates one of the darkest chapters in American history—and it reads like a page-turner you won’t be able to put down.

The 1920s weren’t all jazz and Gatsby glamour. Behind the glittering facade, the Ku Klux Klan was rising to terrifying power—not in the old South, but in America’s Heartland. At the center of this chilling saga stands D.C. Stephenson, a charismatic con man who transformed the Klan from a fringe hate group into a mainstream political force that infiltrated churches, town halls, and state governments across the nation.

But this isn’t just a story of darkness. It’s the story of Madge Oberholtzer, a seemingly powerless woman whose courage and deathbed testimony would ultimately bring down one of the most dangerous men in America. Egan, a brilliant researcher and masterful storyteller, weaves together meticulous historical detail with propulsive narrative energy that feels urgently relevant to our own time.

Praised by Erik Larson and recognized as a Goodreads Choice Award Finalist and New York Times Notable Book, A Fever in the Heartland is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how hate movements gain power—and how ordinary people can stop them. This is history that grips you like the best thriller, reminding us that the past is never really past.

Perfect for readers who loved The Splendid and the Vile or Killers of the Flower Moon.

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