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The Instant New York Times Bestseller
Named a Best Book of the Year by *The Washington Post, Slate, Vanity Fair, TIME, Buzzfeed, Smithsonian, BookPage, KCUR, Kirkus, and The Boston Globe*

“It literally changed my outlook on the world…incredible.” —Shonda Rhimes

*”The Barn* is serious history and skillful journalism, but with the nuance and wallop of a finely wrought novel… *The Barn* describes not just the poison of silence and lies, but also the dignity of courage and truth.” —*The Washington Post*

“The most brutal, layered, and absolutely beautiful book about Mississippi, and really how the world conspired with the best and worst parts of Mississippi, I will ever read… Reporting and reckoning can get no better, or more important, than this.” —Kiese Laymon

“An incredible history of a crime that changed America.” —John Grisham

“With integrity and soul, Thompson unearths the terrible how and why, carrying us back and forth through time, deep in Mississippi—baring sweat, soil, and heart all the way through.” —Imani Perry

Wright Thompson delivers a powerful and revelatory account of the murder of Emmett Till, exposing the deep-seated forces that collided in the Mississippi Delta leading up to the crime—and the systemic efforts that kept the full truth hidden for decades.

Thompson’s family farm is just 23 miles from the site of one of the most infamous and significant killings in American history, yet he never learned about it until he left Mississippi for college. Even today, much about the case remains obscured. The immediate cover-up ensured that key details—such as the exact location of the crime and the number of people involved—were buried.

In August 1955, two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were arrested for the horrific torture and murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. Their trial, a blatant mockery of justice, ended in an all-too-predictable acquittal. Later, they gave a self-serving confession to a journalist, conveniently distorting critical facts—including where the atrocity took place and who else was present. Through meticulous research, Thompson uncovers that at least eight people were at the scene, a barn belonging to one of the killers, located on a piece of land identified as Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half—a place woven into the legend of the Delta, not far from where the blues was born on Dockery Plantation.

The brutal killing of a Black teenager for allegedly whistling at a white woman was appalling even within the norms of the Jim Crow South. But it was Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who transformed his murder into a moment of national reckoning by insisting on an open-casket funeral, forcing the world to confront the horror of what had been done to her son.

Thompson brings a profound depth of understanding to this story, revealing not only the lives of Emmett Till and his killers but also the larger societal forces that brought them into tragic collision. He lays bare the systemic racism, economic interests, and power structures that made the crime inevitable—and the continuing reluctance to fully confront its truth. Ultimately, this is a story of race, power, and the enduring grip of white supremacy.

At its heart, *The Barn* is about the courageous individuals who have committed themselves to uncovering the complete story, challenging a legacy of silence and fear. Pinpointing the exact location of the barn on the map of Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half—and placing it in the broader context of the Delta and the nation as a whole—becomes a symbolic act of reckoning. It is a recognition of the unfinished work required to confront America’s deepest wounds and move toward a more honest and just future.