Devil in the Grove Book Summary

In 'Devil in the Grove,' Gilbert King unravels the harrowing true story of a wrongful conviction in the racially charged South of the 1940s. At the center of this gripping narrative is the tragic case of a young black man accused of a crime he didn't commit, set against the backdrop of a community steeped in prejudice. King masterfully portrays the tireless efforts of legendary lawyer Thurgood Marshall as he fights against injustice, challenging a corrupt system. With vivid characters and a relentless pursuit of truth, the book reveals how this pivotal moment shaped the civil rights movement. Prepare to be captivated by a tale of courage, resilience, and the dark undercurrents of American history.

By Gilbert King

Published: 2013

""In the face of injustice, silence is complicity; we must find our voice, even when it shakes.""

Book Review of Devil in the Grove

A gripping true story of racism, murder, rape, and the law, Devil in the Grove brings to light one of the most dramatic court cases in American history, and offers a rare and revealing portrait of Thurgood Marshall that the world has never seen before. As Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns did for the story of America’s black migration, Gilbert King’s Devil in the Grove does for this great untold story of American legal history, a dangerous and uncertain case from the days immediately before Brown v. Board of Education in which the young civil rights attorney Marshall risked his life to defend a boy slated for the electric chair—saving him, against all odds, from being sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.

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"In the face of injustice, silence is complicity; we must find our voice, even when it shakes."

Devil in the Grove

By Gilbert King