Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This book opens with the 1903 Kishinev pogrom as a lens for understanding the roots, nature, and enduring impact of communal violence, showing how pogroms emerge when dominant groups seek to reassert control over minorities amid social change. It traces the spread of mob violence across American history—from anti-Mormon and anti-Catholic riots to massacres of Black, Chinese, and ethnic Mexican communities—revealing how elites, media, and myths of self-defense repeatedly justify terror against those who challenge racial and religious hierarchies. The book defines pogroms as one-sided, mob-led assaults that advance political and social control and argues that such violence, often condoned by authorities, reshaped American demographics and power structures while being erased from national memory. It also explains why mob violence declined after the 1920s, crediting professionalized policing, more objective media, and growing cultural tolerance, while warning that renewed polarization and partisan reporting may revive old dangers. Finally, the book urges historical reckoning and vigilance, contending that learning from America’s forgotten pogroms is essential to safeguarding democracy and preventing their return.</jats:p>