The Birth of a Nation
The American historian John Hope Franklin wrote that not only did Claude Bowers treat "The Birth of a Nation" as accurate history, but his version of history seemed to be drawn from "The Birth of a Nation". Historian E. Merton Coulter treated "The Birth of a Nation" as historically correct and painted a vivid picture of "black beasts" running amok, encouraged by alcohol-sodden, corrupt and vengeful black Republican politicians. Franklin wrote as recently as the 1970s that the popular journalist Alistair Cooke in his books and TV shows was still essentially following the version of history set out by "The Birth of a Nation", noting that Cooke had much sympathy with the suffering of whites in Reconstruction while having almost nothing to say about the suffering of blacks or about how blacks were stripped of almost all their rights after 1877.