Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America

Written by Cameron McWhirter

Narrated by L.J. Ganser

A narrative history of America's deadliest episode of race riots and lynchings.



After World War I, black Americans fervently hoped for a new epoch of peace, prosperity, and equality. Black soldiers believed their participation in the fight to make the world safe for democracy finally earned them rights they had been promised since the close of the Civil War.



Instead, an unprecedented wave of anti–black riots and lynchings swept the country for eight months. From April to November of 1919, the racial unrest rolled across the South into the North and the Midwest, even to the nation's capital. Millions of lives were disrupted, and hundreds of lives were lost. Blacks responded by fighting back with an intensity and determination never seen before.



Red Summer is the first narrative history written about this epic encounter. Focusing on the worst riots and lynchings—including those in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Charleston, Omaha, and Knoxville—Cameron McWhirter chronicles the mayhem, while also exploring the first stirrings of a civil rights movement that would transform American society forty years later.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Feb 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781977343338

Cameron McWhirter

Cameron McWhirter is a national reporter for The Wall Street Journal, based in Atlanta. He has covered mass shootings, violent protests and natural disasters across the South. He is also the author of Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America. Previously, he reported for other publications in the U.S., as well as Bosnia, Iraq, and Ethiopia.

Reviews for Red Summer

[Christie Brooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was fantastic. It sheds light on history that was broadly forgotten. I would recommend anyone interested in this time in American history; a great guide to a tumultuous time that's been disappeared from the American historical memory.

[casabooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not an easy read, but so glad I found it.
(don't remember what pointed me to this book, that I had to get thru interlibrary)
There's some difficult gore, made most difficult due to the horror of how humans can treat one another. I know this is factual, but found it extremely difficult to comprehend the inhumanity of whites and white crowds brutally torturing and killing fellow humans simply because of their black skin color.
Maybe today's brutalities aren't so unusual after all; while we hear more about it, yet not as brutal as these events.
And this was in 1919 - LESS THAN 100 years ago.
My Grandparents were youngsters, my nearest & dearest friend was born less than 10 years later.
Takes your breath away to think about it.
Also a bit difficult to follow all the individuals traced as the founders of organizations and the many individuals involved in attempting to make the necessary changes. Well written, but there are a lot of facts to follow.
Read through to the very end - Interesting twist brings a conclusion of sorts to the opening story of one of the first events that started the bloodshed of 1919.