I had some knowledge of the Elaine Massacre, but only because I listen to podcasts. It's certainly not something that was ever addressed in my history classes. The facts of the case are laid out in this text in a clear and concise manner. We learn about the initial incident, the arrests, and the years long fight to see justice done. Obviously, we get a fair amount of information about Scipio Jones, more about him than an of the victims. The most interesting part to me was the compromises. The results of the legal battles were far from ideal but Jones knew he had to accept these compromises to keep the men alive. There's no satisfaction in reading this book, no sense that good was done. But that's as important as a story of triumph. We need to learn about failures to help prevent their repetition.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
No comments:
Post a Comment