Forty years ago, James Meredith tried to integrate the University of Mississippi, and ignited an armed white rebellion in the nation's heartland. This riveting book re-creates the day the country went to war against itself.

An American Insurrection is the true story of the worst constitutional crisis since the Civil War and a major turning point in American history. It takes readers into the eye of the chaotic and ferocious white uprising that occurred when air force veteran James Meredith tried to become the first black student to register at the University of Mississippi, only to be physically blocked by radical segregationist Governor Ross Barnett, hundreds of state police, and thousands of student and civilian "volunteers" from across the South. The revolt climaxed in a fourteen-hour battle and the lightning invasion of the state by 30,000 combat troops ordered in by President John F. Kennedy.

Based on years of intensive research, including more than 500 interviews with witnesses and key players in the drama, recently unsealed FBI files, and on JFK's Oval Office and Cabinet Room tapes recorded during the crisis, An American Insurrection unearths the unsung heroes-and more than a few villains-of a dark and violent event that has remained buried in the historical shadows until now.
It is the unforgettable account of a governor in rebellion, a president in crisis, soldiers on a perilous mission, a state sliding into civil war, and a battle that crushed forever the Southern strategy of massive resistance.