Feeding The Wolf Summary

Gregg Cantrell’s book “Feeding the Wolf: John B. Rayner & the Politics of Race” dives into the life of Rayner as an African-American politician of the Populists party during Reconstruction. Cantrell gives a thorough history of Rayner’s life with a white father, who is also a politician, and being born to a slave mother. Cantrell then examines Raynor’s life as a politician driven to defeat the Democratic party, much like his father. The book nicely details the ups and downs of politics with the Populist party, how race is affected, and how these changes affected Mr. Rayner. The author does well to involve the reader with his well-researched facts throughout the book. Cantrell begins the book with the storyline of Rayner’s father. Later in the book, there is a clear reason why the book begins with this information. However, for starting with the book, this makes the main …show more content…
There are many different references throughout the book that indicate the author took his time in researching this period in history. The political party history such as the details about the Greenback party. Even the terms of the “Bourbon” and “agrarian” factions also indicate that the author had researched the history of the parties well. The author also gives great definition so the reader understands the material and words being used. The fusion candidates consisted of Populists and Democrats to win the elections. The author consistently gives detailed examples of these situations to help the reader understand. The sad turn of events when the fusion candidates lost and “white supremacy was returned to Robertson County.” The reader would not have understood this sad result as well if the author wouldn’t have correctly identified the definitions of the fusion parties. The extra time put into the author’s research made sure the book was an accurate portrayal of Rayner’s political