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A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for
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A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South Hardback - 2021

by Ben Montgomery

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The little-known true story of freed slave George Dinning and Colonel BennettH. Young, a Confederate war hero, who in 1899 took on a Kentucky mob in courtafter Dinning was beaten for defending his farm against whites.

Reader reviews for A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South

From the publisher

The sensational true story of George Dinning, a freed slave, who in 1899 joined forces with a Confederate war hero in search of justice in the Jim Crow south. "Taut and tense. Inspiring and terrifying in its timelessness."(Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad )

Named a most anticipated book of 2021 by O, The Oprah Magazine
Named a "must-read" by the Chicago Review of Books
One of CNN's most anticipated books of 2021

After moonrise on the cold night of January 21, 1897, a mob of twenty-five white men gathered in a patch of woods near Big Road in southwestern Simpson County, Kentucky. Half carried rifles and shotguns, and a few tucked pistols in their pants. Their target was George Dinning, a freed slave who'd farmed peacefully in the area for 14 years, and who had been wrongfully accused of stealing livestock from a neighboring farm. When the mob began firing through the doors and windows of Dinning's home, he fired back in self-defense, shooting and killing the son of a wealthy Kentucky family.

So began one of the strangest legal episodes in American history -- one that ended with Dinning becoming the first Black man in America to win damages after a wrongful murder conviction.

Drawing on a wealth of never-before-published material, bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Ben Montgomery resurrects this dramatic but largely forgotten story, and the unusual convergence of characters -- among them a Confederate war hero-turned-lawyer named Bennett H. Young, Kentucky governor William O'Connell Bradley, and George Dinning himself -- that allowed this unlikely story of justice to unfold in a time and place where justice was all too rare.

Details

  • Title A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South
  • Author Ben Montgomery
  • Binding Hardback
  • Pages 304
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Little, Brown Spark
  • Publication date 2021-01-26
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index
  • ISBN 9780316535540 / 0316535540
  • Weight 1.1 lbs (0.50 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.1 in (24.13 x 16.51 x 2.79 cm)
  • Themes
    • Ethnic Orientation: African American
    • Topical: Black History
  • Category History - U.S.
  • Library of Congress subjects African Americans - Crimes against -, Dinning, George
  • Dewey Decimal Code 976.904

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 12/15/2020, Page 82
  • Publishers Weekly, 12/21/2020, Page 0

About the author

Ben Montgomery is a former enterprise reporter for the Tampa Bay Times and founder of the narrative journalism website Gangrey.com. In 2010, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in local reporting and won the Dart Award and Casey Medal for a series called "For Their Own Good," about abuse at Florida's oldest reform school. He lives in Tampa with his children. He is the author of The Man Who Walked Backward, The Leper Spy, and Grandma Gatewood's Walk.

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A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the...
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A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South

by Montgomery, Ben

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A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South

by Montgomery, Ben

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A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the...
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A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South

by Montgomery, Ben

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A Shot in the Moonlight : How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South

by Ben Montgomery

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  • Hardback
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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the...

A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South

by Montgomery, Ben

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  • Hardback
Condition
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Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780316535540 / 0316535540
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Little, Brown Spark, 2021. Hardcover. Very Good. Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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A Shot in the Moonlight : How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the...
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A Shot in the Moonlight : How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South

by Montgomery, Ben

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780316535540 / 0316535540
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Little Brown & Company. Used - Very Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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A Shot in the Moonlight : How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the...
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A Shot in the Moonlight : How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South

by Montgomery, Ben

  • Used
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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780316535540 / 0316535540
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Description:
Little Brown & Company. Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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A Shot in the Moonlight : How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the...
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A Shot in the Moonlight : How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South

by Montgomery, Ben

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Little Brown & Company. Used - Very Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the...
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A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South

by Montgomery, Ben

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  • Hardback
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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780316535540 / 0316535540
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