America's Secret Jihad - by Stuart Wexler (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The conventional narrative concerning religious terrorism inside the United States says that the first salvo occurred in 1993, with the first attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. This narrative has motivated more than a decade of wars, and re-prioritized America's domestic security and law enforcement agenda. But the conventional narrative is wrong.

A different group of jihadists exists within US borders. This group has a long but hidden history, is outside the purview of public officials and has an agenda as apocalyptic as anything Al Qaeda has to offer. Radical sects of Christianity have inspired some of the most grotesque acts of violence in American history: the 1963 Birmingham Church bombing that killed four young girls; the "Mississippi Burning" murders of three civil rights workers in 1964; the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, the Atlanta Child Murders in the late 1970s; and the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995.America's Secret Jihad uses these crimes to tell a story that has not been told before.

Expanding upon the author's ground-breaking work on the Martin Luther King, Jr. murder, and through the use of extensive documentation, never-before-released interviews, and a re-interpretation of major events, America's Secret Jihad paints a picture of Christian extremism and domestic terrorism as it has never before been portrayed.

Review Quotes

Praise for America's Secret Jihad

"[T]his book is a fascinating attempt to see beyond conventional narratives and reveal an overlooked facet of religious terrorism."--Library Journal

"An impassioned investigative report...With urgency and zeal...Wexler carefully differentiates the religiously motivated extremists from the merely white supremacists...compelling study."--Kirkus

"Wexler (The Awful Grace of God) convincingly makes the case that America has been victimized by significant domestic terrorism for over half a century...Most readers will be surprised...Wexler's deliberate and critical review of the evidence is also likely to prompt reconsideration of the possibility of wider conspiracies behind Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and the Atlanta child murders of 1979-1981."--Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Praise for The Awful Grace of God (with Larry Hancock)

"A timely study." --Kirkus

"A step in the [right] direction of a better understanding of a national tragedy." --Booklist

Praise for Shadow Warfare (with Larry Hancock):

"All American presidents since Franklin Roosevelt have ordered clandestine military actions. Hancock and Wexler investigate why commanders-in-chief find secrecy appealing. The U.S. sponsorship of the operations detailed in this tome was concealed in most cases to avoid political controversy within the U.S. or within a country hosting the covert program. The authors cite FDR's authorization to create an American air force in China--the Flying Tigers--as a template; the president decided the action was necessary but impolitic to reveal to the public. So it went with secret Cold War military operations in Tibet, Indochina, Guatemala, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Afghanistan. So it continues in the conflict with radical Islam. Deniability as a feature of covert warfare parallels the authors' attention to tactical methods, such as the use of front companies, which may interest readers of intelligence history, while those concerned with the constitutionality of this subject will be sated with discussion of its legal aspects. Because their extensive research is wrapped in politically neutral prose, Hancock and Wexler can engage a range of readers with a controversial topic." --Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

About the Author

Stuart Wexler has long been considered one of the top investigative researchers in domestic terrorism and radical religious activities. His books include The Awful Grace of God and America's Secret Jihad. His groundbreaking work on forensics and historical crimes has been featured on NBC News and in The Boston Globe, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, USA Today, and The Clarion-Ledger. He now lives and teaches in New Jersey, where he won the prestigious James Madison Teaching Fellowship in 2010.