Bertis D. English presents a treasure chest of relevant and important historical material related to Perry County, Alabama, providing information that comprehensively illuminates experiences of the area’s residents in a way that state and regional studies cannot." —Kenneth M. Hamilton, author of Booker T. Washington in American Memory"Among the understudied aspects of Reconstruction, are the places where the Klan dog didn’t bark, much, and where terrorist violence was less common. Bertis English’s book examines one of these areas, where white elites and freedpeople stepped back from the brink of all-out racial conflict. Understanding how this occurred, and what the constraints were, animates this illuminating study. This unusual approach deserves attention." —Michael W. Fitzgerald, author of Reconstruction in Alabama: From Civil War to Redemption in the Cotton South