Unexampled Courage

"The great value of Unexampled Courage is that it might garner a broad audience for the kinds of heroism involved in this history of litigation . . . Would that Chief Justice John Roberts and his fellow conservative justices might read this riveting legal history and rethink the decision in Shelby v. Holder of 2013, which eviscerated federal oversight of voting rights in the Deep South. But while we wait for that unlikelihood, we should remember that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed because of the history Gergel recounts."—David W. Blight, The New York Times Book Review

“Richard Gergel presents a deeply researched account of [Isaac] Woodard’s tragic story and weaves it into a larger narrative . . . The definitive account of Woodard’s blinding.”—Kenneth W. Mack, The Washington Post

"Packed with overlooked history . . . Gergel recounts [the story of Sergeant Woodward] with compelling prose, revealing how a single injustice led to some of the nation’s most important civil rights victories."—Eric Deggans, NPR

"Gergel’s hallmark is an emphasis on how people at every level contribute to the making of history . . . He makes that point memorably in Unexampled Courage. Hopefully it will nurture the ground from which will arise more effective efforts in our own time to confront the ongoing menace of racially motivated police violence."—Randall Kennedy, The American Prospect

“Unexampled Courage, set in the Jim Crow South after World War II, recovers a pivotal moment in America’s civil rights movement. This remarkable story reminds us of the enduring power of the rule of law, even under the most daunting circumstances, when men and women stand for justice. A timely book; a monumental achievement.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University

“Drawing on his exhaustive investigation of the brutal encounter between a black soldier and a southern police officer, Richard Gergel widens the lens on a critical moment in American history. Unexampled Courage tells a riveting story about the personalities and forces that converged in the aftermath of World War II to fuel the movement that would dismantle Jim Crow and transform the nation.”—Patricia Sullivan, Professor of History at the University of South Carolina and author of Lift Every Voice: The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement

"In clear and elegant prose, Gergel—a United States district judge in South Carolina—strips legal cases of jargon and presents them as what they essentially are: human drama. The result is intellectually and emotionally satisfying . . . As I finished it, I felt deeply moved all around, but mostly by the incredible courage of the ordinary Black Americans in the 1951 Briggs v. Elliott case, over school segregation. Meticulously researched and full of heart, this book is important at this time when the United States is confronting its ever-present past."—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of Americanah

“Unexampled Courage is a searing work of history that must be read in today’s America: an account of the fight for civil rights that reminds us just how much we depend on the bravery of a few to right the wrongs of the many. Reading it is an emotional journey. There are tears of rage, but also of admiration for the extraordinary courage of a brutalized and blinded black soldier; of a southern judge whose conscience drove him to oppose his racist heritage; and an American president who risked everything to do what he believed to be right at a time when the United States hoped its moral leadership would resonate around the world.”—Christopher Dickey, author of Our Man in Charleston

“A federal judge from South Carolina examines a rarely mentioned 1946 race-based crime . . . Gergel is both an astute researcher and an engaging writer, bringing this significant story to vivid life . . . civil rights history at its most compelling.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Gergel presents a compelling account of a case that helped point the way for broader, more intense, and more effective efforts in the civil rights movement.”—Jay Freeman, Booklist

“A fascinating historical and legal investigation . . . Gergel reintroduces oft-forgotten civil rights heroes in this captivating, deeply researched work that is likely to draw in general readers, historians, and legal scholars alike.”—Karl Helicher, Library Journal

“In this enlightening study, judge and historian Gergel illuminates the far-reaching effects of an individual act of cruelty . . . This is an important work on the prehistory of the civil rights struggle and an insightful account of how a single incident can inspire massive social and political changes.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)