An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962

The story recounted in An American Insurrection is inspiring, and Doyle tells it well. It is also fresh, because it has been forgotten in a way other epic civil rights struggles--at Little Rock and Selma, for instance--have not. Meredith never took his place beside Rosa Parks as a celebrated hero of the civil rights movement; its leaders wound up regarding him as something of an annoyance. As Doyle writes, "Meredith maintained a ruthless, jarring intellectual integrity and courage that considered the traditional discussion of civil rights as an insult to him as an American citizen, as invalid, even preposterous." The key word is "jarring": Meredith spent his later years rebuking the NAACP and working for conservative senator Jesse Helms. Admirers of Diane McWhorter's Carry Me Home and other readers interested in the civil rights movement will enjoy An American Insurrection--and nobody will suppress a smile during Doyle's description of graduation day, when Meredith wore one of the red-and- white "Ross Is Right" badges distributed by his foes. It was hidden under his robes, turned upside down. --John Miller

Product Description
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. What Black Hawk Down was to the American mission in Somalia, An American Insurrection is destined to become to the epic struggle for civil rights.

I thought the book was not nearly as strong in the final 30 pages. There is no clear direction to the book's "conclusion." Doyle sort of vasillates between providing updates on the book's main characters and attempting to place the riot into a historical perspective. While both are interesting, this portion of the book drags on.

Overall, a very enjoyable read.


I was there on that very morning.   March 2, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I am 62 years old now. On that morning when
the 716th MP Battalion was brought to the campus,
I was in one of the groups exactly as pictured in
the middle of the book. At the time I had no idea
what the big picture was. I just did as I was told.
I was in the army for about a year prior to that day,
but never had live ammunition except for practice.
We had our gas masks on and our bayonets fixed. We
were each handed one clip of live ammunition for
our M-1 rifles. I vividly remember my knees literally
knocking together as we stood there waiting for the
trouble that never came at that time. We had heard
that a soldier had been killed prior to that. This
book is giving me the big picture and a full under-
standing of how we got there and why we were there.
I am finding this book to be riviting and educational.
I heartily recommend it. Mike Cuggino, NY.


Absorbing reading   December 19, 2002
While one can quibble with some things in this book (the author seems to draw on anti-Kennedy books for his material on the Kennedys) all in all it tells the story well, and is really exciting, even tho one is appalled that there could be in the 20th century such benighted persons as instigated and participated in the insurrection to prevent a student entering Ole Miss. The last chapter tho makes a person feel better and I am glad the author spent some time finding out what happened to the people involved in the tumultous events of October, 1962. How pleasant to know that the student body president, the newspaper editor, the quarterback, and the head basketball coach in 2000-2001 were all African-American, and how stupid the rioters must feel now about the views they had in 1962. This is a popular account but it is great reading.


pompous   November 22, 2002
 0 out of 12 found this review helpful

found this to be superficial and pompous. it overwrites facts and at the end fails to provide sufficient perspective. i am an academic and would not use for my students.


One hell of a ripping yarn....   November 12, 2002
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Mr. Doyle has done very well what so many others have failed at. He has taken the stuff of a compelling story and told it as a straightforward and detailed narrative that needs no excessive or distracting "artfulness" to make it live on the page. Here are real, hateful villains, conflicted heroes, confused bureaucrats and the inscrutably zen-like James Meredith. Every one of these individuals - with the possible exception of Meredith - is caught up in circumstances way beyond his "job description" and required by fate to draw his best or worst abilities to the tasks he has been drawn into.
Whatever anyone else may say about this book it is first and foremost a wonderfully compelling reading experience. As a writer of history, Doyle is right up there with McCullough, Ambrose and Goodwin as a writer of skill, insight and a willingness to let the story take the front seat. You will appreciate this book; you will respect this story; but most of all you will savor every minute you spend reading it.