This 412-page book titled “One Night of
Madness” authored by Stokes McMillan has been signed by him. The book is in great condition. The name of the previous owner is written in
the book.
On the cusp of
the civil rights movement, tragedy and injustice in rural Southern towns was
not uncommon, but the wickedness as retold by author Stokes McMillan in One
Night of Madness is shocking and utterly desperate. The year was 1950. Mary
Ella Harris, a mother of five, works hard sharecropping alongside her husband,
a man with a penchant for gambling, drinking, and associating with unsavory
white people. When she is cornered in her home by Leon Turner, a white man who
refuses to take no for an answer, Mary Ella narrowly avoids an attempted rape.
After his arrest, Leon escapes jail and enacts a bloody revenge with two
accomplices. The sheriff, a former bookkeeper, leads the biggest manhunt in
Mississippi history, which ends in a blazing shootout. With the eyes of the
nation watching, the state itself is on trial. The jury's controversial
decision is rebuffed by many, including William Faulkner, and a battle line is
drawn that ultimately serves as a catalyst for change.