Other editions of book A fool's errand : a novel : together with part II, The invisible empire : an historical review of the epoch on which this tale is based 1880

This novel was initially printed in 1880 anonymously as A Fool's Errand, by ‘One of the Fools.’ (Albion Winegar Tourgée, an Ohio native of French Huguenot descent.) A blend of political commentary intertwined around a plot including murder, mystery, and romance, the book relies upon the author’s experiences in the former Confederate state of North Carolina during the post-Civil War Reconstruction period for much of its substance. Particularly poignant is the author's revelation of the development and power of the Ku Klux Klan. Going south with high hopes of effecting political and social reform, the protagonist becomes disheartened with the slow-moving machinery of change in the South. A thought-provoking study into one of the most challenging periods of the Unites States' progressive quest for equality for all its citizens.

"A Fool's Errand. By One of the Fools" – After the American Civil War, Comfort Servosse, a Yankee gentleman, decides to purchase a Southern Plantation for himself and his family. But unlike other white owners, Servosse is actually interested in the well-being of his black subjects to the extent of calling the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) a terrorist organisation and blaming Theodore Roosevelt for the failure of Reconstruction of South! Soon enough, Servosse finds himself amongst his angry white neighbours and things take a dramatic turn…"Bricks Without Straw" (A Sequel) – In a chilling sequel to "A Fool's Errand", Albion Winegar Tourgée shows how KKK unleashed their terror on a group of emancipated slaves who want to start their life afresh by buying new land and starting their own businesses. Suddenly out of nowhere, Klan's terrorism begin new wave of slavery and nothing seems to stop them!Albion Winegar Tourgée (1838–1905) was an American soldier, Radical Republican, lawyer, writer, politician, and diplomat. A pioneer civil rights activist, he founded the National Citizens' Rights Association, established the historically black women's college Bennett College, and litigated for the plaintiff Homer Plessy in the famous segregation case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Historian Mark Elliott credits Tourgée with introducing the metaphor of "color-blind justice" into legal discourse.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

John Hope Franklin: "The value of A Fool's Errand lies in its fearless criticism not merely of the South for its post-[Civil] war attitudes and policies but of the national governmental problems raised by the war and its aftermath. At a time when public sentiment tended to frown on anything that might exacerbate the intersectional difficulties, Tourgee insisted on discussing the problem, because he was convinced that it had not been solved satisfactorily, or indeed, at all... "In his understanding and interpretation of Reconstruction Tourgee would even today be regarded as a radical. Over and over again he emphasized the fact that in the years immediately following the Civil War the former Confederates had control of their own state governments. It was during this period, he argued, that they clearly demonstrated their unwillingness or inability to face up to the implications of the surrender at Appomattox. "... As an intelligent observer and participant in Southern Reconstruction, Tourgee was in an excellent position to provide his contemporaries and posterity with an important commentary and criticism of what he witnessed and experienced. He was a pioneer post-war social critic."

This novel was initially printed in 1880 anonymously as A Fool's Errand, by ‘One of the Fools.’ (Albion Winegar Tourgée, an Ohio native of French Huguenot descent.) A blend of political commentary intertwined around a plot including murder, mystery, and romance, the book relies upon the author’s experiences in the former Confederate state of North Carolina during the post-Civil War Reconstruction period for much of its substance. Particularly poignant is the author's revelation of the development and power of the Ku Klux Klan. Going south with high hopes of effecting political and social reform, the protagonist becomes disheartened with the slow-moving machinery of change in the South. A thought-provoking study into one of the most challenging periods of the Unites States' progressive quest for equality for all its citizens.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

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Gentlemex, Your demand that I should write a Preface to the book you have printed seems to me utterly preposterous. It is like a man introducing himself, always an awkward, and generally a useless piece of business. What is the use of the prologue to the epic coming on, anyhow, unless it be a sort of advertisement? and in that case you ought to write it. Whoever does that should be Wise enough to play the fool; And to do that well craves a sort of wit. That is not the kind of Fool I am. All such work I delegate to you, and hereby authorize and empower you to say what you please of what I have written, only begging you keep in mind one clear distinction. There are two kinds of Fools. The real Fool is the most sincere of mortals: the Court Fool and his kind the trifling, jesting buffoon but simulate the family virtue, and steal the family name, for sordid purposes. The life of the Fool proper is full of the poetry of faith. He may run after a will-o -the-wisp, while the Wise deride; but to him it is a veritable star of hope. He differs from his fellow-mortals chiefly in this, that he sees or believes what they do not, and consequently undertakes what they never attempt. If he succeed in his endeavor, the world stops laughing, and calls him a Genius: if he fail, it laughs the more, and derides his undertaking as A Fool s Erraxd. So the same individual is often both fool and genius, a fool all his life and a genius after his death, or a fool to one century and a genius to the next, or a fool at home and a prodigy abroad.(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings.