Wright Thompson''s family farm in Mississippi is 23 miles from the site of one of the most notorious and consequential killings in American history, yet he had to leave the state for college before he learned the first thing about it. To this day, fundamental truths about the crime are widely unknown, including where it took place and how many people were involved. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing. In August 1955, two men were charged with the torture and murder of the 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. After their acquittal by an all-white jury, they gave a false confession to a journalist; one that was misleading about where the murder took place and who was involved. In the course of half a decade''s research, Wright Thompson has learnt that almost everything we have been taught about Till''s murder is wrong. At least eight people can now be placed at the scene, which was inside the barn of one of the killers, on a plot of land within the six-square-mile grid: Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half. The Barn brings to life the small group of dedicated people who have been engaged in the hard, fearful business of bringing the truth to light. In the process, it offers a revelatory new account of white supremacy in America - uncovering how, over the course of 200 years, Township 22 North, Range 4 West, went from being Choctaw land, to a slave plantation, to a sharecropper''s farm, to the site of the most notorious murder in US history. The result is both a deeply reported account of one of the most infamous moments in American history and a panoramic new account of the history of white supremacy. It maps the road that America - and the world - must travel to heal its oldest, deepest wound.

Autorentext

Wright Thompson grew up in the Mississippi Delta, just a few dozen miles from the place of Emmett Till's murder. His 2021 article in the Atlantic, 'His Name Is Emmett Till', led to nationwide calls for a memorial at the site. The New York Times bestselling author of Pappyland and The Cost of These Dreams, he lives in Oxford, Mississippi with his family.

Klappentext

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA SUNDAY TIMES, OBSERVER, TIME, VANITY FAIR AND WASHINGTON POST BOOK OF THE YEAR'Haunting . . . The writing is often breathtaking, brutality amplified through perfectly crafted prose.' The Times'Extraordinary . . . Serious history and skillful journalism, but with the nuance and wallop of a finely wrought novel.' Washington Post'Literally changed my outlook on the world . . . This book is amazing.' Shonda RhimesHow forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta to bring about the most consequential murder in US history. Emmett Till's murder is one of the most infamous in American history; a moment that, more than any other, awakened the world to the racism of the Deep South. Yet despite growing up just a few miles from where it happened, Wright Thompson knew nothing of it until he left Mississippi. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing. Over the course of five years' research, Thompson has learnt that almost every part of the standard account of Till's killing is wrong. In August 1955, after the two men charged with the murder were acquitted by an all-white jury, they gave a false confession to a journalist: one that was misleading about where the murder took place and who was involved. We now know that at least eight people were present, and many more complicit. And we now know precisely where it took place: inside a barn on a 36-square-mile grid called Township 22 North, Range 4 West. This book tells the story of that barn. It is the story of what really happened on the night of August 28, 1955, and of the individuals who have spent decades bringing the truth to light. And it is the story of the centuries-old forces that made that night inevitable: forces that, over the course of 200 years, transformed Township 22 North, Range 4 West from Choctaw land, to a slave plantation, to a sharecropper's farm, to the site of the most significant murder in US history. The result is a revelatory work of investigative reportage and a panoramic new history of white supremacy in America. It maps the road that the US - and the world - must travel to heal its oldest, deepest wound.

Zusammenfassung

How forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta to bring about the most consequential murder in US history.

Emmett Till's murder is one of the most infamous in American history; a moment that, more than any other, awakened the world to the racism of the Deep South. Yet despite growing up just a few miles from where it happened, Wright Thompson knew nothing of it until he left Mississippi. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing.

Over the course of five years' research, Thompson has learnt that almost every part of the standard account of Till's killing is wrong. In August 1955, after the two men charged with the murder were acquitted by an all-white jury, they gave a false confession to a journalist: one that was misleading about where the murder took place and who was involved. We now know that at least eight people were present, and many more complicit. And we now know precisely where it took place: inside a barn on a 36-square-mile grid called Township 22 North, Range 4 West.

This book tells the story of that barn. It is the story of what really happened on the night of August 28, 1955, and of the individuals who have spent decades bringing the truth to light. And it is the story of the centuries-old forces that made that night inevitable: forces that, over the course of 200 years, transformed Township 22 North, Range 4 West from Choctaw land, to a slave plantation, to a sharecropper's farm, to the site of the most significant murder in US history.

The result is a revelatory work of investigative reportage and a panoramic new history of white supremacy in America. It maps the road that the US and the world must travel to heal its oldest, deepest wound.