Preview
  • The Barn

  • The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi
  • By: Wright Thompson
  • Narrated by: Wright Thompson
  • Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (76 ratings)

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The Barn

By: Wright Thompson
Narrated by: Wright Thompson
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Publisher's summary

An instant New York Times bestseller!

“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

A shocking and revelatory account of the murder of Emmett Till that lays bare how forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta in the long lead-up to the crime, and how the truth was erased for so long

Wright Thompson’s family farm in Mississippi is 23 miles from the site of one of the most notorious and consequential killings in American history, yet he had to leave the state for college before he learned the first thing about it. To this day, fundamental truths about the crime are widely unknown, including where it took place and how many people were involved. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing.

In August 1955, two men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were charged with the torture and murder of the 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. After their inevitable acquittal in a mockery of justice, they gave a false confession to a journalist, which was misleading about where the long night of hell took place and who was involved. In fact, Wright Thompson reveals, at least eight people can be placed at the scene, which was inside the barn of one of the killers, on a plot of land within the six-square-mile grid whose official name is Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, fabled in the Delta of myth as the birthplace of the blues on nearby Dockery Plantation.

Even in the context of the racist caste regime of the time, the four-hour torture and murder of a Black boy barely in his teens for whistling at a young white woman was acutely depraved; Till’s mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s decision to keep the casket open seared the crime indelibly into American consciousness. Wright Thompson has a deep understanding of this story—the world of the families of both Emmett Till and his killers, and all the forces that aligned to place them together on that spot on the map. As he shows, the full horror of the crime was its inevitability, and how much about it we still need to understand. Ultimately this is a story about property, and money, and power, and white supremacy. It implicates all of us. In The Barn, Thompson brings to life the small group of dedicated people who have been engaged in the hard, fearful business of bringing the truth to light. Putting the killing floor of the barn on the map of Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, and the Delta, and America, is a way of mapping the road this country must travel if we are to heal our oldest, deepest wound.

©2024 Wright Thompson (P)2024 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

“[Thompson’s] extraordinary new book The Barn is not only an intimate history of the tragedy, but also a deep meditation on Mississippi and America . . . While sifting through the dirt that buried the facts about Till’s death, Thompson credits the work of the historians, journalists and filmmakers who have sought to tell the true tale. But he crafts a wider, deeper narrative. 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

“Terrifying and humbling, The Barn is a chilling examination of the American strain of a nasty human disorder: the slow immolation that some communities initiate when they choose enabling mythologies, deceit, silence, injustice, and willed ignorance as their moral orders.”—Boston Globe

“Thompson . . . has written a gut-punch of a book about the murder of Emmett Till and the place where it happened. Foregoing the harrowing photos that emphasize Till’s martyrdom, Thompson dives instead into family trees, court transcripts, witness memoirs and more to unearth the enormous human tragedy we forget at our peril: 'Hate grows stronger and resistant,' he reminds us, ‘when it’s pushed underground.’”—Los Angeles Times

What listeners say about The Barn

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The Barn

Such beautiful, powerful prose does not begin to capture the transcendent truth on these pages.

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Increíble.

Hands down the best book on Emmett Till, Mississippi and race in America. I highly recommend.

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Very sad story

I am truly shocked at the cold, cruel actions these grown men took against this child, Emmit Till. This poor, innocent child did not deserve in any, way, shape, or form this kind of horrible, horrific, tragic treatment. Regardless of skin color, no one deserves to have their life taken in such an inhumane manner. I am sickened by the actions that these men and women. This should never have happened and I pray never happens again.

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The history!! I grew up in the Delta. Never knew about Emmitt Till until I was an adult.

This history demands to be told. Must be told. It has been hidden too long. I am reading it for the second time so I can pull more information out of this book.

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Heartbreaking and Essential Reading for All Americans

We do not know this story the way we need to know it. Thompson writes a gorgeous narrative of people, history, and horror that we must refuse to forget. Yet through so much terror and anguish, this story holds a message of hope for the life we can all make together if we face our trauma and our sins together. America needs this now more than ever.

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Evocative

Wright Thompson has crafted an unflinching sociological study on the place of his birth, which, coincidentally, tragically, is the place of Emmett Till’s murder. With evocative imagery - of gnarled oaks, rotting buildings, waxy leaved magnolia trees, and Civil War battlefields - he gives a history of the Mississippi Delta, a land of sharecroppers, violence, and people with a stunning ability to disregard the less than desirable bits of their history. Although Thompson gets in the weeds a bit, focusing on the history more than the crime, he’s a masterful storyteller crafting haunting, beautiful prose.

When I told someone I was going to read a book about the murder of Emmett Till, they said, “What could possibly be written that hasn’t already been written?” Thompson tells this story, the shameful, tragic story with his voice, which is so unique and skilled that it makes me feel as if I am listening to the details of Emmett Till‘s murder for the first time.


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Wish I could give more stars

This is a riveting, thoroughly researched history of an important era in American history. Malcolm X said that "Mississippi is anywhere south of the Canadian border," so we all have a stake in this story. Wright Thompson's reading of The Barn is an extra bonus. If you're not a listener, get the book. It reads like a novel...you can't put it down or take it out of your ear!

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A Must Read!

Absolutely great book! Congrats Wright! You put together a genuine masterpiece! I appreciate your words, deepth, knowledge, outlook, hard work, and your heart, that you poured out onto those pages!

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Context

There's nothing virtual about Mississippi, it's all real, so watch out! When it comes to Mississippi you can go away but you can never get away

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The riveting history of racism, murder and justice unfulfilled.

I learned so much about the time period from 1880 to 1955 and then to present day! I am also stunned at how much more we need to accomplish to be able to live the phrase, “that ALL men are created equal.” This book should be required reading in history & Civics classes in all schools. The author is to be commended for his in-depth research of this event and commended for shining new light on the tragic death of Emmet Till.

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