The Seattle author Timothy Egan's latest book, “A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them,” is a riveting saga of the Klan spreading their hatred of Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants. The leader was a predatory con man, the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, who believed he was above the law.

This is the story of how the Klan held complete power over the politicians, judges and law enforcement across the state of Indiana. They then tried to spread their tentacles over the entire country. For example, by the mid-1920,s the...