{"product_id":"the-veiled-prophet-secret-societies-white-supremacy-and-the-struggle-for-st-louis","title":"The Veiled Prophet: Secret Societies, White Supremacy, and the Struggle for St. Louis","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Devin Thomas O'Shea's \u003cem\u003eThe Veiled Prophet\u003c\/em\u003e inducts readers into white supremacy's back room, revealing the pomp and circumstance of racism, the gaudy esoterica that is presumed to elevate brute domination into something sublime and mysterious. O'Shea tells the story of the racial phantasmagoria of Midwestern elites with great clarity and insight.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e--Greg Grandin, author of \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAmerica, América: A New History of the New World\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\"O'Shea lifts the veil on Midwestern modernity to see the sequence of class struggle underneath. Gripping and thorough, you'll never look at the Gateway Arch the same way again.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e--Malcolm Harris, author of \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003ePalo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Veiled Prophet\u003c\/em\u003e is a dark romp through the backrooms of American history. This thoroughly-researched true story reads like fiction: thrilling, colorful, and very, very funny.\"\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e --Colette Shade, author of \u003cem\u003eY2K: How the 2000's Became Everything\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\"This big, important St. Louis story, arrestingly told, goes to the heart of what the ruling class does when it rules and when it parties. O'Shea captures how an elite reeling from Civil War, emancipation, and a general strike turned to white terrorist symbolism and Orientalist fascinations to create an enduring pageantry that could cement alliances among the rich and create awe and interest, though also inspired resistance, more broadly.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e--David Roediger, author of \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eWages of Whiteness \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eand \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn Ordinary White\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\"The elaborate, occult pageantry of St. Louis's Veiled Prophet Ball is stranger than fiction. Devin Thomas O'Shea tells the whole wild story of this conspiratorial society of cloaked elites crowning each other's daughters, crushing labor strikes, and bankrolling reaction--and in the process delivers one of the most vivid and entertaining accounts of American class power I've read.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e--Meagan Day, \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eJacobin\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e, co-author of \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eBigger Than Bernie: How We Go from the Sanders Campaign to Democratic Socialism\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Veiled Prophet\u003c\/em\u003e is a deeply researched, beautifully written, and shocking exposé of how a secret society of wealthy white supremacists has over centuries dominated the economy and politics of one midwestern city and how that dominance has harmed the wider world beyond the metropolis. Among the book's many achievements are its deft blending of seeming opposites--domination and resistance, continuity and rupture, social structures and human agency.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e--George Lipsitz, author of \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Life in the Struggle: Ivory Perry and the Culture of Opposition\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e and \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Sidewalks of St. Louis\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\"A true page-turner, O'Shea's study makes plain the centrality of St. Louis to US history and the trajectory of working-class struggle from the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 to the Ferguson Uprising of 2014. \u003cem\u003eThe Veiled Prophet\u003c\/em\u003e is searing and uncompromising history.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e--Keona Ervin, author of \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eGateway to Equality: Black Women and the Struggle for Economic Justice in St. Louis\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\"A genuinely startling deep-dive into something that sounds like it should be a conspiracy theory but is, in fact, real.... It sounds like something out of Pynchon, but it turns out truth is stranger than fiction.\" \u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eLitHub \u003c\/em\u003eMost Anticipated Books of 2026\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\"A riotous history lesson: a century-spanning x-ray of of the underbelly of St. Louis.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e--Lucas Sprio, \u003cem\u003eArts Fuse\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\"Exhilirating...a wild exploration of a shadowy elite.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePART ONE\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 1 - The Great Strike\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter begins with the 1877 Great Railroad Strike in St. Louis, which established the first American commune government, and which the Veiled Prophet Society organized to suppress.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 2 - The Founder\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter covers Alonzo Slayback's life as a border ruffian during Bleeding Kansas, a Confederate Cavalry officer, and exile in Mexico.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 3 - Lalla Rookh\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter discusses the literary source material used by the Veiled Prophet Society -- Thomas Moore's \"The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 4 - The Originals\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter discusses the influential first members of the Veiled Prophet Society, led by Alonzo and Charles Slayback.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 5 - Ku Klux\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter focuses on the history of the first wave of the Klan and the ways in which the first wave focused on parade, civic celebrations, and popular culture references that disguised the group's violent intent.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 6 - Slayback's Murder\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter covers the first years of the Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball, as well as Alonzo Slayback's quick-draw murder at the hands of the \u003c\/em\u003eSt. Louis Post-Dispatch\u003cem\u003e editor.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePART TWO\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 7 - The Big Cinch\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter tracks the Veiled Prophets after Alonzo's death, highlighting the general corruption and wealth inequality of St. Louis as it is becoming one of the largest cities in the United States, on track to become the nation's capital, host of the 1904 World's Fair.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 8 - The War Years\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter details the parades and Veiled Prophet Balls after the World's Fair as the second wave of the Klan takes off with\u003c\/em\u003e Birth of a Nation\u003cem\u003e, and the Veiled Prophet is heralded as a \"Clansmen.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 9 - Dr. America\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter focuses on Tom Dooley--a young gay St. Louis man of the mid-century who plays a large role in the Veiled Prophet social scene, and then ends up in the navy, in Laos and Vietnam before the war\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 10 - James Earl Ray\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter examines why the Veiled Prophet Society was much-discussed in the assassination of Martin Luther King Junior\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 11 - The Unveiling\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter is the high-water mark of the book, with the 1972 unveiling by ACTION protestor Gena Scott, organized by civil rights activist Percy Green. \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 12 - William Webster\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter covers the Veiled Prophet member Judge William Webster as he goes from being head of the FBI to head of the CIA\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 13 - The VP Fair\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis chapter examines the 1980s Reaganite effort to rebrand and double down on the Veiled Prophet, and the failure of that event to be both pro-American, inclusive, and a new chapter in the city's life. \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChapter 14 - Michael Brown\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis final chapter tracks the Veiled Prophet through the post-9\/11 era, into the Iraq War, Michael Brown's murder, the ensuing protests, and international attention trained on St. Louis as a place that is emblematic of everything wrong with the United States--a city run by Veiled Prophets since 1878. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDevin Thomas O'Shea\u003c\/strong\u003e is a writer whose work has appeared in \u003cem\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSlate\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Iowa Review\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eJacobin\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBoulevard\u003c\/em\u003e, and elsewhere. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA provocative look at the secret society that has controlled St. Louis for over a century, revealing how shadowy elites organize themselves against working-class power. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eEvery December in downtown St. Louis, the city's upper crust attend a garish costume party that doubles as a debutante's ball. The daughters of high society are paraded to the throne of a cloaked monarchical figure, and bow to the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan. At first glance, the event seems outdated and clownish, but in truth the Veiled Prophet Society has functioned as an exclusive club for the \"city fathers,\" where solidarity is built between wealthy men who head major U.S. corporations, banks, and control whole industries. At the Veiled Prophet's Ball, these titans of capital come together to crown one of their daughters the Queen of Love and Beauty, and celebrate the breaking of strikes, the sabotage of protests, and the enforcement of racial hierarchies.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Devin Thomas O'Shea's \u003cem\u003eThe Veiled Prophet \u003c\/em\u003eis the definitive history of the Veiled Prophet Society in all its violence and pageantry, offering a colorful alternate history of the United States through the lens of the Midwestern elite. O'Shea follows the Veiled Prophet Society from its origins in the wake of the 1877 general strike, through the 1904 World's Fair, to the height of the Prophet's--and St. Louis's--influence during the Cold War. \u003cem\u003eThe Veiled Prophet\u003c\/em\u003e examines the unexpected ways this secret society has shaped the course of history, from the CIA to the Vietnam War to the assassination of Martin Luther King.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Yet the power wielded by the Veiled Prophet has not gone uncontested. Since the Gilded Age, the Prophet has faced resistance from orphans armed with pea-shooters, Communist Party organizers during the Depression, Civil Rights icons, and renegade debutantes. The Ferguson uprising of 2014 was only the most recent challenge to the Prophet's influence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs the fight for the soul and streets of St. Louis intensifies, it's more critical than ever that we expose the sordid history of these powerful, masked figures and their control over our democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/22\/2026 (EAN 9798888905791, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003eO'Shea, Devin Thomas\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDevin Thomas O'Shea\u003c\/strong\u003e is a writer in St. Louis. His work has appeared in \u003cem\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSlate\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Iowa Review\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eJacobin\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBoulevard\u003c\/em\u003e, and elsewhere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Haymarket Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496246935830,"sku":"9798888905791","price":35.94,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9798888905791.jpg?v=1783058139","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/the-veiled-prophet-secret-societies-white-supremacy-and-the-struggle-for-st-louis","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}