What do Lizzie Borden and O. J. Simpson have in common? Or the Lindbergh baby and Gary Gilmore? They were all the focus of famous crimes and/or trials in the United States. In this five-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 our country 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 set of books available on the subject of famous U.S. crimes and trials.
CRIMES AND TRIALS FEATURED:
Volume 1: 1607-1859. Mary Dyer Trial/Execution; Salem Witch Trials; Blackbeard the Pirate; Peter Zenger Sedition Trial; Boston Massacre Trials; Bathsheba Spooner Murder Case; The Amistad Slave Ship Case; John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry.
Volume 2: 1860-1912. Andersonville Prison Trial; The Molly Maguires Trial; Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County Wars; Gunfight at the OK Corral; Lizzie Borden Murder Trial; Belle Gunness Serial Murder Case; Becker-Rosenthal Murder Trial.
Volume 3: 1913-1959. Leo Frank Case; Sacco and Vanzetti Trial; Fatty Arbuckle Case; Leopold and Loeb Thrill Killing; Scopes Monkey Trial; Scottsboro Boys Trials; Bonnie and Clyde; Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Case; The Lonely Hearts Killers; Sam Sheppard Case; Emmett Till Case.
Volume 4: 1960-1980. Assassination of JFK; The Boston Strangler; Lenny Bruce Obscenity Trial; Chicago Seven; Angela Davis; My Lai Court Martial; Charles Manson Cult Murder; Attica Prison Riots; Gary Gilmore; Joan Little Trial; Ted Bundy.
Volume 5: 1981-2000. Jack Abbot Murder Case; Green River Serial Murder Case; Henry Lee Lucas; Exxon Valdez Oil Spill; Willie Horton; Rodney King Beating Trial; Polly Klass; O. J. Simpson Trial; Susan Smith; World Trade Center Explosion 1993; Timothy McVeigh Case.
About the Author: FRANKIE Y. BAILEY is Associate Professor at the State University of New York, Albany. With Steven Chermak, she is co-editor of Media Representations of September 11 (Praeger, 2003) and Popular Culture, Crime, and Justice (1998). She is author of Out of the Woodpile: Black Characters in Crime and Detective Fiction (Greenwood, 1991), which was nominated for the Mystery Writers of America 1992 Edgar Award for Criticism and Biography, and Law Never Here: A Social History of African American Responses to Issues of Crime and Justice (Praeger, 1999).
STEVEN CHERMAK is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Affairs in the Department of Criminal Justice at Indiana University. He is the author of Searching for a Demon: The Media Construction of the Militia Movement (2002) and Victims in the News: Crime and the American News Media (1995).
