What has gone down in history as a “race riot” in 1898 Wilmington, actually was the violent, white supremacist overthrow of a duly-elected, racially-mixed, local government.

The shocking story of that event is the topic of “Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy” by David Zucchino, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author.

Zucchino will debut his book at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, at the Asheboro Public Library, 201 Worth St. His talk, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, is free and open to the public.

In “Wilmington’s Lie,” Zucchino uses contemporary newspaper accounts, diaries, letters and official communications to create a gripping and compelling narrative that weaves together individual stories of hate and fear and brutality, creating a dramatic and definitive account of a remarkable but forgotten chapter of American history.