Setting the Civil Rights Movement in its historical context, this book focuses on the background of white supremacy and factors leading to racial change and the rise of black activism. It follows through the various resentments caused by segregation up to the achievement of political freedom.

The book begins by setting the Civil Rights Movement in its historical context focusing on the background of white supremacy and factors leading to racial change and the rise of black activism. It follows through the various humiliations and resentments caused by segregation and white 'resistance' to integration up to the final disintegration of the movement, having achieved political freedom.

The South in War and Peace - The Montgomery Bus Boycott - Crisis in the Schools - The Movement Spreads - Birmingham and the Civil Rights Act - Freedom Summer - Selma and the Voting Rights Act - The Movement Splits: Black Power and Vietnam - Repression and Consolidation