Famous Crimes Revisited by
A look at seven legendary crimes of the 20th century, this book by a foremost forensic scientist releases never-before-disclosed facts and photos that are certain to surprise many readers. The cases covered are Sacco-Vanzetti, the Lindbergh kidnapping, Sam Sheppard, JFK, Vincent Foster, JonBenet Ramsey, and O.J. Simpson.
The Great Trials of the Twenties by
[PRINT] 1920s America was at peace at home and abroad but issues facing the nation were highlighted by a series of trials including baseball's Black Sox, Al Capone, John T. Scopes, Sacco and Vanzetti, Leopold and Loeb, and the court martial of Billy Mitchell. Americans will find this book on trials of the "Roaring Twenties" provocative. Great Trials begins with an extensive introduction describing "the setting" of that tumultuous decade, and follows with an in-depth examination of 10 trials, touching on nearly every facet of American life. Each case is a fascinating story, and the fierce jousts in these courtrooms impart to the reader both how different things once were, and how much the nature of argumentative individuals has remained exactly the same.
Popular Crime by
The man who revolutionized the way we think about baseball now examines our cultural obsession with murder—delivering a unique, engrossing, brilliant history of tabloid crime in America. Celebrated writer and contrarian Bill James has voraciously read true crime throughout his life and has been interested in writing a book on the topic for decades. Now, with Popular Crime, James takes readers on an epic journey from Lizzie Borden to the Lindbergh baby, from the Black Dahlia to O. J. Simpson, explaining how crimes have been committed, investigated, prosecuted and written about, and how that has profoundly influenced our culture over the last few centuries— even if we haven’t always taken notice. Exploring such phenomena as serial murder, the fluctuation of crime rates, the value of evidence, radicalism and crime, prison reform and the hidden ways in which crimes have shaped, or reflected, our society, James chronicles murder and misdeeds from the 1600s to the present day. James pays particular attention to crimes that were sensations during their time but have faded into obscurity, as well as still-famous cases, some that have never been solved, including the Lindbergh kidnapping, the Boston Strangler and JonBenet Ramsey. Satisfyingly sprawling and tremendously entertaining, Popular Crime is a professed amateur’s powerful examination of the incredible impact crime stories have on our society, culture and history.
Bullet Proof! by
The Forensic Files subset examines the forensic sciences behind the most fascinating solved and unsolved cases, from autopsies to facial reconstruction, and more.
A Pictorial History of the World's Great Trials by
Socrates (399 B.C.) -- Joan of Arc (1431) -- Mary, Queen of Scots (1586) -- Guy Fawkes (1606) -- Galileo Galilei (1633) -- Charles I of England (1648) -- Salem witchcraft (1692) -- John Peter Zenger (1735) -- Louis XVI of France (1793) -- Mary Surratt and the Lincoln conspirators (1865) -- The impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson (1868) -- Reverend Henry Ward Beecher (1875) -- Ned Kelly (1880) -- Lizzie Borden (1893) -- Oscar Wilde (1895) -- Captain Alfred Dreyfus (1894 and 1899) -- Francisco Ferrer (1909) -- Madame Joseph Caillaux (1914) -- Edith Cavell (1915) -- Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (1921) -- John Thomas Scopes (1925) -- General Billy Mitchell (1925) -- Scottsboro Boys (1931-1950) -- Bruno Richard Hauptmann (1935) -- Leon Trotsky (1937) -- Nuremberg (1945) -- Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty (1949) -- Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Morton Sobell (1951) -- Jomo Kenyatta (1952) -- Steven Truscott (1959) -- Adolf Eichmann (1961).
In Search of Sacco and Vanzetti by
It was a bold and brutal crime robbery and murder in broad daylight on the streets of South Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1920. Tried for the crime and convicted, two Italian-born laborers, anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, went to the electric chair in 1927, professing their innocence. Journalist Susan Tejada has spent years investigating the case, sifting through diaries and police reports and interviewing descendants of major figures. She discovers little-known facts about Sacco, Vanzetti, and their supporters, and develops a tantalizing theory about how a doomed insider may have been coerced into helping professional criminals plan the heist. Tejada's close-up view of the case allows readers to see those involved as individual personalities. She also paints a fascinating portrait of a bygone era: Providence gangsters and Boston Brahmins; nighttime raids and midnight bombings; and immigration, unionism, draft dodging, and violent anarchism in the turbulent early years of the twentieth century. In many ways this is as much a cultural history as a true-crime mystery or courtroom drama. Because the case played out against a background of domestic terrorism, in a time that echoes our own, we have a new appreciation of the potential connection between fear and the erosion of civil liberties and miscarriages of justice.
Twentieth-century Cause Cèlébre : Sacco, Vanzetti, and the Press, 1920-1927 by
The trial and imprisonment of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti and the resulting press coverage catapulted the two immigrant anarchists from the margins of obscurity to international celebrity in 1926 and 1927. This study examines this press coverage and the political movement that set the tone for one of the 20th century's most debated and least understood political causes. Neville argues that, while casting about for a case to champion in 1926, the Comintern of the USSR discovered in Sacco-Vanzetti the perfect vehicle to discredit and shame the United States. As an international cause celebre, this event did not occur spontaneously but, rather, was managed behind the scenes in Europe to discredit the reputation of the United States through a carefully orchestrated propaganda campaign.Perhaps the most formidable enemies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the U.S. government were ultimately their own political leaders, who seemed powerless to rebut an all-or-nothing international propaganda campaign designed to succeed with Sacco and Vanzetti playing the role of willing martyrs. That few supporters of the Sacco-Vanzetti movement realized this effort distorted the historical accuracy of the case for decades after the men were executed. More than 70 years later, historians and scholars must separate the myth from the reality, an extremely difficult task given the passage of time and the still largely accepted view that Sacco and Vanzetti were victims of political persecution.
The Legacy of Sacco and Vanzetti by
"A definitive history of the case...notable alike for its clarity and its fairness....Professors Joughin and Morgan conclude that Sacco and Vanzetti were the victims of a sick society, in which prejudice, chauvinism, hysteria, and malice were endemic. Few who will read this moving work will doubt that they have proved their point."—The New York Times "This was not merely a trial in court nor even a sociological phenomenon in the history of the United States. It was a spiritual experience and setback which only a fundamentally healthy America could have endured....What influence was it that brought such world figures as Clarence Darrow, William Borah, H.G. Wells, Arnold Bennett, Edna St. Vincent Millay, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Brisbane, William Allen White, Fritz Kreisler, Albert Einstein and others to plead for men entirely unknown to them? Joughin and Morgan tell you why with the clarity and thoroughness of scholars and with the authority which their long study, impartiality, and sincerity assure and guarantee. It is a book that will excite and anger you."—The New Republic Originally published in 1978. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Postmortem: New Evidence in the Case of Sacco and Vanzetti by
Reexamines the 1921 murder case that resulted in the execution of the two anarchists, argues that they were innocent, and suggests a possible solution to the crime.
Communication and Litigation: Case Studies of Famous Trials by
Examination of seven famous trials, each concluding with an evaluation of the trial by a lawyer, judge, law professor, or communication scholar. The Washington Post coverage of the John Hinckley case preceding the trial demonstrates the effects media may have on a trial. The Haymarket riot trial serves as an example of opening statements in a storytelling form. By analyzing the trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, Schuetz and Snedaker explain direct examination according to its purpose, legal rules, ordering of witnesses, verbal and nonverbal techniques of interrogation, and tactics for introducing evidence. The cross-examination in the Sacco-Vanzetti case shows how advocates enhance or decrease their persuasiveness by adopting communication maneuvers. Closing arguments in the Rosenberg trial took the form of a refutative story with a dual persuasive and instructional content. The Supreme Court appeal in the Sam Sheppard case demonstrates the procedures, form, content, and style of arguments of appellate briefs. The Chicago Eight trial is an example of trial as theatre.
Crimes and Trials of the Century by
What do O. J. Simpson, the Lindbergh baby, and Gary Gilmore have in common? They were all the focus of famous crimes and/or trials in the United States. In this two-volume set, historical and contemporary cases that not only shocked the nation but that also became a part of the popular and legal culture of the United States are discussed in vivid, and sometimes shocking, detail. Each chapter focuses on a different crime or trial and explores the ways in which each became famous in its own time. The fascinating cast of characters, the outrageous crimes, the involvement of the media, the actions of the police, and the trials that often surprised combine to offer here one of the most comprehensive sets of books available on the subject of famous U.S. crimes and trials.The public seems fascinated by crime. News and popular media sources provide a steady diet of stories, footage, and photographs about the misfortunes of others in order to satisfy this appetite. Murder, rape, terrorism, gang-related activities, and other violent crimes are staples. Various crime events are presented in the news every day, but most of what is covered is quickly forgotten. In contrast, some crimes left a lasting impression on the American psyche. Some examples include the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the bombing of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City, and the September 11th attacks. These events, and other significant cases, are immediately or on reflection talked about as crimes of the century. They earn this title not only because they generate enormous publicity, but because of their impact on American culture: they help define historical eras, influence public opinion about crime, change legal process, and focus concern about important social issues. They seep into many other shared aspects of social life: public conversation, fiction and nonfiction, songs, poems, films, and folk tales.This set focuses on the many crimes of the century of the last 100 years. In vivid detail, each crime is laid out, the investigation is discussed, the media reaction is described, the trial (if there was one) is narrated, the resolution is explored, and the significance of the case in terms of its social, political, popular, and legal relevance is examined. Illustrations and sidebars are scattered throughout to enliven the text; print and electronic resources for further reading and research are offered for those wishing to dig deeper. Cases include the Scopes Monkey trial, Ted Bundy, Timothy McVeigh, O.J. Simpson, Leopold and Loeb, Fatty Arbuckle, Al Capone, JonBenet Ramsey, the Lacy Peterson murder, Abu Ghraib, Columbine and more.
Sacco and Vanzetti [videorecording] /a Willow Pond Films production ; directed by Peter Miller ; produced by Peter Miller, Amy Carey Linton. Brooklyn, NY : First Run/Icarus Films, c2006.
DVD available through FSCJ Kent Campus Library