Famous American Crimes and Trials [Five Volumes]

Subjects:

• Crime & Justice » True Crime
• Communications » Mass Media
• Popular Culture » Popular Culture (General)

Reviews:

• Finally, a mega reference work devoted solely to all of America's famous and infamous crimes and trials....[t]his outstanding reference set is written by scholars for the general public and beyond.
  —Library Journal February 1, 2005
• This work has definite multidisciplinary appeal and would be an excellent addition to any academic reference collection. Recommended. Undergraduates; graduate students; general readers.
  —Choice May 2005
• This is an excellent, albeit pricey, multi-volume set focused on famous American crimes and trials from 1600 to the Oklahoma City bombing....[w]ell worth it. Recommended.
  —Library Media Connection October 2005

Table of Contents:

• Volume I
• Set Foreword
• Series Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 Quaker Mary Dyer: Twice under the Hangmans Noose
• 2 Witch Trials, 1692: Madness in Salem
• 3 Blackbeard the Pirate: Seventeenth-century Public Relations
• Professional
• 4 The Sedition Trial of John Peter Zenger: The Power
• of the Printed Word
• 5 The Boston Massacre: A Prelude to Revolution
• 6 Bathsheba Spooner: The Result of a Wicked and Licentious
• Appetite on the Life Expectancy of Husbands
• 7 The Whiskey Rebellion: Western Settlers Challenge
• Federal Power
• 8 The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr: Americas Would-be Caesar
• 9 The Tragic Murder of Helen Jewett: Sin and Sensationalism
• 10 Amistad: Slaverys Northern Dred Scott Decision
• 11 The Bickford Murder of 1845: The Somnambulist
• and the Fallen Woman
• 12 The Parkman Murder of 1849: The Commonwealth
• v. John White Webster
• 13 The Shadrach Courtroom Rescue: Abolitionists Free
• Fugitive Slave
• 14 The Daniel Sickles Murder Trial: A Husbands Vengeance
• 15 The Ordeal of Harpers Ferry and the Trial of John Brown
• :Madman or Martyr?
• Index
• About the Editors and the Contributors
• Volume II
• Introduction
• 1 Major Henry Wirz and the Andersonville Prison Trial
• :War Criminal or Scapegoat?
• 2 Alexander Campbells Molly Maguire Trial: The Miners
• and the Pinkertons
• 3 The 1875 Alienation of Affections Trial of Henry Ward
• Beecher: For Better or Worse
• 4 Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War: Villain or Hero?
• 5 Gunfight at the OK Corral: The Path to Conflict
• 6 The Murder Trial of Crow Dog: The Clash of Justice Systems
• 7 The Charles Guiteau Assassination Case: Arguing His
• Own Insanity
• 8 The Lizzie Borden Murder Trial: A Respectable Woman
• 9 H. H. Holmes, Multiple Murderer: Man or Monster?
• 10 The Nesbit-Thaw-White Affair: Spectacles of Sex
• and Violence in Old New York
• 11 The Case of Chester Gillette: Murder in the Adirondacks
• 12 The Belle Gunness Serial Murder Case: The Fiendish Widow
• 13 The Becker-Rosenthal Murder Case: The Cop
• and the Gambler
• Index
• About the Editors and the Contributors
• Volume III
• Introduction
• 1 Leo Frank and the Legacy of Southern Lawlessness: A Murder
• and a Lynching
• 2 The Sacco-Vanzetti Trial: Judging Anarchy
• 3 Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle: Cleared by the Court, Convicted
• by Conspiracy
• 4 The Incomprehensible Crime of Leopold and Loeb: Just an
• Experiment
• 5 The Scopes Monkey Trial: A Debate about Evolution
• 6 The Crime and Trial of Albert H. Fish: Divine Hunger
• 7 Bonnie and Clyde: A Mad, Dizzy Whirl
• 8 The Scottsboro Boys Trials: Black Men
• as Racial Scapegoats
• 9 The Lindbergh Baby Murder Case: A Crime of the Century
• 10 The Sleepy Lagoon Murder and the Zoot Suit Riots
• :Los Angeles at War
• 11 Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez: The Lonely
• Hearts Killers
• 12 The Barbara Graham Murder Case: The Murderess
• Walked to Her Death as if Dressed for a Shopping Trip
• 13 The Sam Sheppard Case: Do Three Trials Equal Justice?
• 14 The Emmett Till Murder: The Civil Rights
• Movement Begins
• Index
• About the Editors and the Contributors
• Volume IV
• Introduction
• 1 The JFK Assassination: Three Murders, Two Killers,
• and Four Decades
• 2 The Boston Strangler: A Mans Confession and a Citys
• Unsolved Case
• 3 Lenny Bruce Obscenity Trial: Free to Be Obscene
• 4 The Trial of the Chicago Seven: Stage against the Machine
• 5 The Murder of Fred Hampton: The Governments
• Involvement and Cover-up
• 6 The Angela Davis Trial: A Political or a Criminal Trial?
• 7 The My Lai Massacre: A Mixed Reaction to Tragedy
• 8 Charles Manson and the Tate-LaBianca Murders
• :A Family Portrait
• 9 The Attica Trials: A Thirty-year Pursuit of Justice
• 10 The Execution of Gary Gilmore: Restarting
• the Killing Machine
• 11 The Trial of Joan Little: An Inmate, a Jailer,
• and a First-degree Murder Charge
• 12 The Life and Trial of Francine Hughes: Beyond
• the Burning Bed
• 13 John Wayne Gacy Jr.: The Killer Clown
• 14 Ted Bundy: The Serial Killer Next Door
• Index
• About the Editors and the Contributors
• Volume V
• Introduction
• 1 Jack Henry Abbott: An Author from behind Bars
• 2 Green River Murders Case: The Hunt for a Killer
• 3 The Confessions of Henry Lee Lucas: High Numbers
• and Higher Stakes
• 4 The State of Texas v. Karla Faye Tucker
• :Death Row Inmate #777
• 5 The Ford Pinto Trial: The Criminal Prosecution
• of a Corporation
• 6 The Wreck of the Exxon Valdez: Oil and Water Dont Mix
• 7 William Willie Horton: Presidential Campaign Controversy
• 8 The Central Park Jogger: The Impact of Race
• on Rape Coverage
• 9 Rodney King Beating Trial: A Landmark for Reform
• 10 The Kidnapping and Murder of Polly Klaas
• :An Atypical Crime Yielding Controversial Reforms
• 11 Representing O.J.: The Trial of the Twentieth Century
• 12 The Susan Smith Case: From Victim to Child Murderer
• in Nine Days
• 13 1993 World Trade Center Attack: The Forgotten Bombing
• 14 Timothy McVeigh: The Oklahoma City Bombing
• Index
• About the Editors and the Contributors