Includes bibliographical references (p. 471-478) and index.

On October 12, 1958, the Temple, Atlanta's oldest and most prominent synagogue, was blown open by fifty sticks of dynamite. The shock wave that reverberated across the nation that night jolted this city "too busy to hate," a booster's town scrambling to make itself the economic hum of what would become the New South. The explosion also shattered the illusions of a comfortable Reform Jewish congregation, for whom assimilation and acceptance had been proceeding nicely until they found themselves in the crossfire of a renewed battle between white and black.

By weaving together the parallel experiences of four different Atlanta communities - the white power structure, the white supremacists, the African Americans, and the Jews - Melissa Fay Greene places at the center of her narrative Jacob Rothschild, the Temple's outspoken rabbi and the lightning rod for the predawn attack. With the visceral power of great writing, The Temple Bombing illuminates as never before the danger facing everyday citizens who try to lead moral lives in an era of defiance. It is a vivid social history, a courtroom drama, and a page-turning mystery rich in character and incident.