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These chilling photos of the Ku Klux Klan in their early 1920s heyday feature in a new book by a historian who fears a 'Klannish spirit' is enjoying a resurgence in Donald Trump America. In one of the photos a baby has been forced to wear a traditional Ku Klux Klan hood during a Klan 'christening'.

Another bizarre image shows a group of Klan members posing while stood on top of a plane.

Klan members can be seen taking part in elaborate secret rituals and mass 'naturalisations', or initiation ceremonies, held in front of fiery crosses. Other photos show prominent Klan figures including the initiator of the second Klan, Colonel William J Simmons, the man who ousted him as head of the movement, Imperial Wizard Hiram Evans, and the Pillar of Fire Church Bishop Alma White.

In the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan boasted six million members - many of them women and children - and spoke out against the number of immigrants entering the country.

Their attacks on Irish, Italian, Jewish and Oriental immigrants resonated with large swathes of the population.

The white supremacists also condemned alcohol, prostitution, movies and jazz music.

However, the Klan's popularity collapsed amid revelations of sordid sexual scandals and financial embezzlement. The final straw was Indiana Grand Dragon David Stephenson's conviction for kidnapping, raping and murdering his secretary in 1925.

Historian Linda Gordon has charted the rise and fall of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s in her new book.

She says she sees worrying parallels between the America of the 1920s and America today under the presidency of Donald Trump.

She said: 'Racism and bigotry has had a long tradition in the USA, sometimes it is subterranean and sometimes it is loud and shouty.