By the 1890s, Wilmington was North Carolina's largest city and a shining example of a mixed-race community. But across the state—and the South—white supremacist Democrats were working to reverse the advances made by former slaves and their supporters, plotting to oust the city's diverse government "by the ballot or bullet or both." In this Pulitzer Prize winner, David Zucchino chronicles how this plot transpired, culminating in a massive riot that targeted Black citizens, killing 60 and driving many citizens into exile.