This volume is a fascinating chronicle of the formation and growth of the infamous KKK following the War Between the States. Conceived in the minds of six former Confederate soldiers as "a hilarious social club" with no other purpose than their own amusement, the Klan quickly evolved into an institution of "Chivalry, Humanity, Mercy, and Patriotism" and spread throughout the Southern States to counter the aggression against their people by unscrupulous Carpetbaggers and their vicious Union League cohorts. According to its published prescription, the Klan existed "to protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless, from the indignities, wrongs, and outrages of the lawless, the violent, and the brutal," and to "aid and assist in the execution of all constitutional laws, and to protect the people from unlawful seizure, and from trial except by their peers in conformity to the laws of the land." Such illustrious figures as Generals John Brown Gordon of Georgia and Nathan Bedford Forrest of Tennessee were leaders in the Invisible Empire, the latter calling for its disbandment in 1871 when its purpose had been fulfilled.