February 12, 1946. Sergeant Isaac Woodard, a decorated African American veteran, was removed from a Greyhound bus in Batesburg, South Carolina after challenging the driver's treatment of him. He was arrested by the local police chief, Lynwood Shull, and beaten and blinded while in custody. Outraged, President Harry Truman established the first presidential commission on civil rights; the Justice Department filed criminal charges against Shull. An all-white jury acquitted Shull, but Judge Waring was conscience-stricken and began to challenge the foundations of racial segregation. Gergel details the racial awakening of President Truman and Judge Waring, and traces their influential roles in changing the course of America's civil rights history. -- adapted from jacket.

Introduction : a collision of two worlds --Part I : The blinding : A tragic detour -- A wave of terror -- "The place was Batesburg" -- The bystander government -- Part II : The awakening : "My God ... we have to do something" -- The Isaac Woodard road show -- The gradualist -- A "baptism in racial prejudice" -- Part III : The call to action : "I shall fight to end evil like this" -- "We know the way. We need only the will" -- Confronting the American dilemma -- There will be no fines -- Fighting the "battle royal" -- Driving the "last nail in the coffin of segregation" -- Conclusion : unexampled courage.