An American Insurrection: James Meredith and the Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962

I am 62 years old now. On that morning whenthe 716th MP Battalion was brought to the campus,I was in one of the groups exactly as pictured inthe middle of the book. At the time I had no ideawhat the big picture was. I just did as I was told.I was in the army for about a year prior to that day,but never had live ammunition except for practice.We had our gas masks on and our bayonets fixed. Wewere each handed one clip of live ammunition forour M-1 rifles. I vividly remember my knees literallyknocking together as we stood there waiting for thetrouble that never came at that time. We had heardthat a soldier had been killed prior to that. Thisbook is giving me the big picture and a full under-standing of how we got there and why we were there.I am finding this book to be riviting and educational.I heartily recommend it. Mike Cuggino, NY.

Mr. Doyle has done very well what so many others have failed at. He has taken the stuff of a compelling story and told it as a straightforward and detailed narrative that needs no excessive or distracting "artfulness" to make it live on the page. Here are real, hateful villains, conflicted heroes, confused bureaucrats and the inscrutably zen-like James Meredith. Every one of these individuals - with the possible exception of Meredith - is caught up in circumstances way beyond his "job description" and required by fate to draw his best or worst abilities to the tasks he has been drawn into. Whatever anyone else may say about this book it is first and foremost a wonderfully compelling reading experience. As a writer of history, Doyle is right up there with McCullough, Ambrose and Goodwin as a writer of skill, insight and a willingness to let the story take the front seat. You will appreciate this book; you will respect this story; but most of all you will savor every minute you spend reading it.

I spent the night of September 30-October 1 in the middle of the Ole Miss Campus. There were four of us who were barricaded in the Student Union Building. We watched the fightining swirl below through the night, but I did not know -- until I read this book -- how close to the abyss we really were. I think this a very balanced account that is basically accurate. There were no bars in Oxford in 1962 for Mississippi was legally dry until 1966! A few other slips like that do not detract from the totality of the book. This is the third or fourth book I have read on the subject and the first that really places the blame for what happened on both sides. It has always seemed to me -- and I have said so -- that the most foolish thing one could have done was what the Federal Government did by surrounding the Lyceum Building late on Sunday afternoon, thus giving a focal point for returning students and invading strangers . . . and the oncoming cover of darkness. In hindsight, it would have been so much better to lay low until early Monday, slip onto the campus and register James Merideth in the early morning, and face the daylight hours rather than the night. However, the men in the field had to deal with the situation that the Governor and the President had permitted to be created . . . and they cannot really be blamed for lack of foresight when those in a much higher position had shown the same lack of foresight.An excellent book . . . that scares the wits out of someone who was really there!

I've lived in Oxford my entire life (26 years) and never knew the true story behind the integration of Ole Miss. It is something I hate I was not privy to, but something I am glad to now know. Mr Doyle does an excellent job telling both sides of the story. I come from a long line of Mississippi racists. I always heard what a mistake it was for Meredith to have been admitted to the University. Thankfully, I have never felt this way since I was able to give my own opinion on matters. I now work for the University in the Old Gym, just behind the Lyceum. I see those visuals everyday and I enjoy the lush beauty of the rolling campus. It brings tears to my eyes to know that these actions took place not long ago. Oxford still has a long way to go, but I am so proud it is no longer like this. A few students still insist on the band playing "Dixie" and carrying their Confederate flags wherever they go, but they are no longer the Oxford of 1962. Anyone who enters the beautiful town of Oxford and grand campus of Ole Miss will find it full of friendly folk, of various nationalities and races. Drink a coffee and read at the balcony of Square Books, stroll through the tree-filled Grove (but watch out for theiving squirrels!), and walk past the magnificent Lyceum, a time-honored symbol of the University. You'll get a real feel of what the University is now, not then.

I found this book to be very enlightening. It is a factual account of the clash between the United States Government and the State of Mississippi. Anyone who has been to Oxford would find it hard to imagine that those events actually occurred. It is a great example of our constitution being put to the test.