In 1961, a black veteran named James Meredith applied for admission to the University of Mississippi and launched a legal revolt against white supremacy in the most segregated state in America. Meredith s challenge ultimately triggered what Time magazine called the gravest conflict between federal and state authority since the Civil War, a crisis that on September 30, 1962, exploded into a chaotic battle between thousands of white civilians and a small corps of federal marshals. To crush the insurrection, President John F. Kennedy ordered a lightning invasion of Mississippi by over...