I read another book by Edward Ball, called Life of a Klansman: A Family History in White Supremacy. This book was mentioned in that book, so I ordered it from Thriftbooks for about five dollars. I really enjoy the writing of Edward Ball, who is an interesting person himself. I love a historian in general, because they are simply kindred spirits to me. He came from a family who had a very complex past, several generations were slave owners in South Carolina, and then there was the Klansman from the other book. A lot of people probably have similar pasts, but I haven't read many books that confront that part of their ancestor's doings. I really enjoyed the effort he put in to finding and speaking with descendants of former slaves that were owned by his family. I also learned a lot of things about the institution of slavery itself that I was previously unaware of. I really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it.