3 comments about The Great Trials Of The Twenties: The Watershed Decade In America's Courtrooms.

1. This book manages to stay lively while giving both the social and historical context and details of the trials themselves. The narrative is informed but not ponderous, in fact, at times it almost conversational in tone. The trials selected encompass a broad array of issues from those times, ranging from sports scandles to organized crime to military heroes to xenophobia to science and creation. Each entry is long enough to give the reader a real good feel for the issues surrounding the case, but short enough to keep the pacing fast and enjoyable. I recommend it highly.



2. An enjoyable book, nicely illustrated, which gives concise and interesting insights into some of the topics that exercised Americans in the 1920s and early 1930s: immigration, political radicalism, prohibition, crime and delinquent social behavior, the debate between creationism and science, and so on. I would have welcomed, in one or two chapters, slightly more detail from the trials themselves, and sometimes the overall historical context is a little thinly sketched. However, this is popular history, not some bone-dry academic thesis, and it works very well at that level.



3. The Great Trials of the Twenties: The Watershed Decade in America's Courtrooms, by Robert Grant and Joseph Katz, guides the reader through the 1920s via such scandalous court-room trials as that of Al Capone, the Ku Klux Klan's David C. Stephenson, the Chicago "Black Sox", Loeb-Leopold, and more. The authors spent a great deal of time each chapter delving into the background information (what was going on in the country prior to the trial). They "set up" the scandal at length before the reader learns about it. I think this is beneficial if the reader is looking to understand more about the 1920s, but I think it is also a little unnecessary at times. I would like it if just as many pages covered the trials themselves, so I didn't feel like I had just "scratched the surface". Some excerpts of testimony and proceedings are included, which are effective, but I also think more are needed to help the reader grasp every angle of the scandal, the accused, the actual proceedings, etc.
   What I really like about this book is how it sums up each account in the end, with either what it meant for the United States and its people in the 1920s or what happened to the defendant later on. When reading, it's obvious that Grant and Katz "know their stuff" when it comes to history. The inclusion of a section of photographs adds a great deal and makes the information hit home better when a face is put to a name. The authors highlight the ten most interesting, controversial, and exciting trials of the 1920s; not one trivial or disappointing trial was included. In covering all of these, the book runs like ten mini-stories, which, in my opinion, also keeps the interest factor up more than if the book were devoted to one single trial.
   Each trial is analyzed, but the authors offer up these accounts in an objective and non-biased way. On the whole, it makes for a good read on the decade that ushered America into the modern age. The book attempts to connect the after-math and influence of the trials to America today. It does a fine job of this, and is easy to understand even if one is not a history buff. If readers are looking for a book only on trial proceedings they might be a little disappointed, but if they're looking for insight into the 1920s, The Great Trials of the Twenties: The Watershed Decade in America's Courtrooms is a nice choice.

5 comments about Lobster Boy.

1. Through extensive interviews with nearly all parties involved, both family and police, Fred Rosen reconstructs the events surrounding the life and death of Grady Stiles Jr, the "Lobster Boy." Following a profitable sideshow career, capitalizing on the congenital defect known as ectrodactyly (fingers and toes are fused to form claws), Stiles was murdered in his own living room, victim of a hit man hired by members of his own family.

   Was Stiles a man who had tried to make the most of his handicap and live the American dream only to be taken advantage of by his spouse, or did he use his deformity to hide years of abusive behavior, verbal and physical violence that eventually drove his own family to take steps to protect themselves?

   A fascinating true account of life being stranger than fiction. Comes with a dozen photo pages so you can see the strangeness for yourself.




2. This is the book if you want to one up your co-workers with bizarre carnie folklore! I heard about Lobsterboy on a camping trip soon after I stumbled upon the book. This is some trivial knowledge that will get heads turning for sure. I have a friend that still doesn't believe he's real. Definately good for a few laughs -

   Grady Stiles Lives!!




3. Lobster Boy! The story may shock you and leave you forever changed. This book rocked! I bought it because the cover was so freaking hilarious. He is a sight to behold. I sat out in the sun reading this two summers ago and couldn't put it down, I looked a bit Lobsterish by the time I was done. Find out all you need to know about The Fat Man, The Migdet Man, and of course, Lobster boy, in this wonderful book. It is a true story, which only makes it that much greater!



4. Lobster Boy! The story may shock you and leave you forever changed. This book rocked! I bought it because the cover was so freaking hilarious. He is a sight to behold. I sat out in the sun reading this two summers ago and couldn't put it down, I looked a bit Lobsterish by the time I was done. Find out all you need to know about The Fat Man, The Migdet Man, and of course, Lobster boy, in this wonderful book. It is a true story, which only makes it that much greater!



5. The book really wasn't that well-written and it wasn't as interesting as I thought it'd be when I bought it. I don't understand three things:

   (1) Why would the Stiles family continue to bring children that they KNOW are going to be deformed into the world ("If a child was born a freak, it was the child's problem...and God's" ?? How SICK is THAT?) How selfish!

   (2) Why would Theresa Stiles leave her third husband, a good, respectful man who never raised a hand to her or her children, divorce him and go back to Grady Stiles for more of what she'd put up with her first time around? Sociopaths do NOT change...and Grady Stiles had already gotten away with the murder of his daughter's boyfriend. He had shown himself capable of murder. WHY would she chuck a quiet, stable life and make a return trip into hell?

   (3) Why did Fred Rosen get involved with the case by giving the prosecution a copy of the wrestling videotape with sound? Isn't an author supposed to be unbiased? Rosen had no right to interject himself into this case while it was still being tried.

   And why didn't he condemn the so-called "victim" for his treatment of his wives and children over the years? Why did he make Teresa and her son Glenn sound like evil incarnate when Grady, as much as I hate to say it, asked for it?

5 comments about Hellcats, Vixens, & Vicedolls: Women, Crime, and Kink of the Fifties.

1. 
   With all the intensity and drama of a dozen Eugene O'Neil plays, and sporting writing style reminiscent of a black and white DRAGNET episode, HELLCATS is sure to tickle the fancy of any true crime buff; especially those who like lurid tales of sex, violence and death --- and sometimes not it that order.



2. Vice girls: trapped in a world of prostitution and dope, for these hopeless souls prison or death is their only out. Vixens: found on the arms or penthouses of the rich, these knockouts use their charms, and in some cases--blackmail, to suck every last penny from their lust-struck patrons. Hellcats: murders, thieves, and gun molls, all fleeing the cops while heading for the next big "take down." Meet all the girl in this collection of true crime tales.



3. 
   Do you know what they call men who are completely ambiguous to the violence and wanton cruelty that women can inflict on the world? Bachelors! Or suckers. Don't be a sucker, wise up and order this volume of female fueled aggression - it just could save your (night) life.



4. 
   If you are in the mood for a crime novel that is sent in the 1950s and explores the depths of degradation and reckless brutality in a woman's soul, I would suggest Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door. But if you prefer your1950s' murders and mutilations to be 100% factual, and 10 times more vicious, then look no further... this book is for you!



5. A fast (as in "easy") and furious (as in "will cut your head off with a band saw if she thinks you are cheating on her") collection of 50, 1950s hellcats running wild and taking a bite out of every thing in their path, only to be corralled and caged by a legion of clean-shaven boys in blue. These cases are the very best in vintage crime reporting.

2 comments about Dirty Tricks or Trump Cards: U.S. Covert Action and Counterintelligence.

1. A quick, cheap alternative to setting up your own spy network.

   SPY BOOKS have evolved. Early in the 20th century we had thrillers and fantasies, shamelessly implausible but racy and fun, culminating in Bond. Thoughtful spy novels began with Somerset Maugham's Ashenden (1928), featuring a detached hero on a journey to disillusion, a process brought to its apotheosis by le Carre via Greene. In parallel with this were volumes of reminiscence prompted by espionage of two world wars and the Cold War. But in recent decades, another strain has emerged: the academic study of intelligence, of which this book is a good example. Roy Godson is a Professor of Government at Georgetown University and heads the American-based Consortium for the Study of Intelligence. He rightly asserts the importance of intelligence studies to any understanding of 20th-century international relations. Given the number of Cold War political decisions to which intelligence was a contributor - sometimes a determinant - any history of the period which leaves it out is, at best, one-eyed. Counterintelligence (CI) and covert action, the subjects of his book, are significant sub-divisions of intelligence activity, although syping can happen without them. In Godson's definition, the primary mission of CI is to "identify, neutralize and exploit the intelligence or secret infrastructures of others". In other words, CI is spying on spies, studying, distrupting and, if possible, turning against themselves the activities of hostile organizations who are trying to spy on you. Most examples given are American, but one familiar to British readers is Oleg Gordievsky, the British agent who ended up charge of the KGB's London operations and who, according to Godson, was thus able to prevent the M15 officer Michael Bettaney from spying for the Russians. (In fact, Gordievsky was more than an outstanding CI agent: he was also a producer of very high-grade political intelligence.) Godson defines covert action as "influencing conditions and behaviour in ways that cannot be attributed to the sponsor". It ranges from getting articles into the press to sponsoring guerilla warfare. Although governments without an intelligence service can mount effective covert action - the American 1902 acquisition of rights over the Panama Canal is an example quoted - it usually demands resources that only an intelligence service could maintain. Thus, when the British and American governments sought the overthrow of the Mussadegh government in Persia in 1953, they mounted a joint covert action using the existing British intelligence network. This is not a collection of shock-horror spy revelations or stories of derring-do but an academic study of the bureaucracy of the cloak and the politics of the dagger. The ending of the Cold War, Godson rightly says, does not mean an end to conflict - "World politics continues as it has for much of mankind's existence" - and the present "low levels" of government in parts of the world does not mean the end of the nation state. There are, he estimates, more than 100 intelligence organizations targeting American interests. American attitudes towards CI and covert action have traditionally suffered from "fits-and-starts" - as often too much as too little - and what are now needed are consistent, well-thought-out foreign policies to which these activities contribute systematically. They should neither dictate policy nor be tactics of last resort. If you want spy thrills, this is not your book; but if you want to understand how the whole thing works at Washington level, and to have an idea of what George W Bush is hearing from his advisers, then reading this will prove quicker and cheapter than setting up your own spy network.





2. 
   Roy Godson is the only person to have systematically studied intelligence requirements in a holistic manner, consistently distinguishing among collection, analysis, counterintelligence, and covert action. His series in the 1980's, and then again in the 1990's, on intelligence requirements, stand alone as efforts to define and measure key elements.

   With this book, written and published prior to 9-11,Godson provides both a historical and a prescriptive treatment of the two most neglected and mis-managed elements of U.S. national intelligence: covert action (concealed influence) and counterintelligence (protecting our secrets by catching their spies and agents of influence).

   While 9-11 demonstrated our incapacity in both these vital areas that comprise the black art side of national power, there is no other book and no other expert that has done more to itemize the details that must be contemplated (and are not now being contemplated) by those responsible for devising homeland security defenses. The author's appreciation for pre-emptive "offensive" counterintelligence and covert action, and his understanding of terrorist and criminal and other nonstate actors (one should include rogue corporations, of which there are many), make him particularly well-qualified to advise the Administration and Congress as we move toward what must be a draconian reconstitution and revitalization of national intelligence.

No comments about Double Jeopardy: Obsession, Murder, and Justice Denied.

No comments about Report of the President's commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.

3 comments about Ladies in Waiting: From the Tudors to the Present Day.

1. The position of Lady of the Privy Chamber or Maid of Honour has for centuries been eagerly sought by social climbers at court, while certain high-born ladies took the title as their due, but the names of very few have been remembered -- with a few exceptions like Anne Boleyn. What influence might these intimates of a reigning queen or of the monarch's spouse have had, however peripheral, on the making of policy? Somerset (who doesn't say whether she's connected in any way to the ducal house) is an "amateur historian," but a good one. She concentrates on court politics beginning with Henry VIII, partly because detailed records are too sparse in this regard prior to Bosworth, and partly because Henry VII only kept great state because it was expected of a king, but his son enjoyed it immensely and greatly expanded the number of offices at court. Because it can be difficult to find narrative histories of many of the families discussed here, like the Pomfrets, the Sundons, and the Cowpers, the genealogies woven into the footnoted text are especially welcome.



2. Anne Somerset does a fantastic job writing a back story to British royal history through the stories of ladies-in-waiting. It's easier to get through this book if you already have a background in British royal history, are familiar with the ups and downs, because Somerset doesn't always elaborate -- she's more interested in telling the story from the ladies-in-waiting point of view. And what a rich, gossipy, fascinating point of view it is. Behavior of royals is seen in a different light than in history books, or historical biographies. I feel like I've been viewing a portrait of British royals, and now Somerset has added some discrete shading to the picture to further illuminate. Wonderful book, couldn't put it down.



3. I was disappointed. She concentrated strongly on a few already well known ladies in waiting up to Queen Anne, then the whole book just trailed off with much less attention given to each succeeding Queen's ladies. It was very clear where her real expertise is.

5 comments about Portland Confidential.

1. As a Portland area resident, I was really exited to read this book. I was somewhat disappointed. . . Phil Stanford is a journalist, and the book reads like a collection of news clippings. The characters are colorful and interesting, and the photos added a lot to the book, but overall, I felt his coverage was somewhat cursory. I wanted more information, more historical background and more perspective. To be fair, however, I read this book immediately after reading The Devil in the White City. There, Eric Larson took a time in Chicago history, and created a masterpiece. Imagine the Portland Confidenital story/characters in the hands of a writer of that caliber!



2. Longtime residents of Portland will probably find Portland Confidential a quick, enjoyable read because they'll recognize the places and names Stanford peppers his story with. Portland residents will be less put off by Stanford's "conversational" narrative voice, as they have been reading him for years in his role as columnist for The Oregonian, and more recently the Portland Tribune. I suspect that out of towners and would find very little for them here.
   
   Using a wealth of sources, anonymous and credited, Stanford revisits a time Portland civic leaders have long tried to forget: the corruption filled 1950s. In short, digestable, one newspaper column sized vignettes, Stanford generally cuts right to the chase: Portland was a bad, bad town.
   
   The photographs chosen for this story are marvelous; they bring the story to life and really reflect the tone Stanford seems to be trying to achieve.
   
   The story itself (if one can call it that, it ends up more like a long ramble that often doubles back on itself) is compelling. Like one of the other reviewers, I can't help but wonder how another writer would tell this tale.
   
   That said, Stanford has spent his entire life cultivating the leads and the inside information that led to the publication of this book. Few others would have the wealth of infomation necessary to tell this tale. It serves as a reminder that the Golden 1950's had almost as much tarnish on them as the 2000s do.



3. my grandfather was Frank Tatum. He was murdered before I was born. It was a very good story. Now I have to find the obituary.



4. A very well written look into Portland's dicey past.Its informative for any newcomer to to learn about the cities past,and a must for any native to read.



5. My grandfather was a health inspector during this time and eventually quit because he refused to take bribes to look the other way regarding various establishments in Portland. This book is a quick and enjoyable read. The journalistic tone fits the subject matter and is, I think, a deliberate tone to suit the style. It is NOT a text book of the history of Portland. It is an entertaining look into the seedy past of a city not usually known for seediness. Though even today Portland has more strip clubs per capita than Vegas or LA, or any other city in the nation.

1 comments about Leadbelly: The Inside Story of an Underworld War.

1. If you have seen the series from Australia called Underbelly then you will want this book. If you are a true crime buff then you will want this book. If you are a fan of the Sopranos then you will want this book. A fascinating look at the underbelly of underworld crime in Australia over the period of a decade stretching into the new century.

5 comments about The Merger: The International Conglomerate of Organized Crime.

1. `The Merger' is the most comprehensive book on international crime.

   The theme is how various gangs and mafias from different nations are cooperating versus competing. This game of cooperation enables each criminal organization to focus on a core competency to increase efficiency. These gangs are no longer disorganized but operate in ways similar to corporations, and are often more knowledgeable & advanced than the 'good guys'.

   The other main focus of this book is how these same organizations are using the limitations of police jurisdiction to their advantage.

   One way they utilize jurisdiction to their advantage is by meeting in one country, such as Vienna, Austria. There the Russians, Sicilians, Italians, and other gangs stage conferences discussing expansion. They intentionally commit no crime in Austria. Since no crime is committed the police cannot arrest them. They go there as businessmen and behave themselves.

   Other means of using jurisdictions to their advantage is to facilitate money laundering. They register multiple shell companies in countries with strict banking privacy laws such as Panama & the Cayman Islands.

   They also use Indian reservations to move drugs, contraband alcohol & cigarettes amongst other things. These Indian reservations are constantly seeking more territory supposedly to protect their land, when in truth it usually involves a while man pulling strings as to gain more territory to smuggle drugs. They then wash the proceeds through casinos, and finally launder the money in some offshore banks.

   Russians extorting other Russians, Nigerians scamming Europeans & North Americans, it's all covered in this book. Learn about how one organization attempted to buy an old military submarine to smuggle drugs into the USA, meanwhile they were doing this while under surveillance.

   This is very well researched & is probably the best book on the market in its category.




2. This book is a big disappointment. Buy this book and you will regret it. First, the writer is biased. Second, the book is outdated. Third, there are MANY things that are inaccurate (short of fiction). Also the book is full of grammatical errors.
   
   [...] Whatever privileges they enjoy, they EARNED them through decades of suffering.



3. The Cali cartel, whose profits dwarf those of America's largest companies, have a simple mode of operating. All potential partners fill in a simple form listing the names and addresses of all their living relatives so these urbane men know whom to knock off, if they are double-crossed.
   
   Not that the Colombian cocaine cartels are the world's only baddies. The Mohawk Warriors smuggle $1 bn worth of contraband across the American Canadian frontier every year. And, in today's age of globalized mergers, they work with all comers, from the Cali cartel and Chinese snakeheads to the Russian gangsters, who dominate this book.
   
   Former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin is quoted as saying that "Russia is the biggest Mafia state in the world". It is certainly the most dangerous. Although Moscow, from 1991 to 1999, has witnessed thousands of contract killings, no one has ever been successfully prosecuted for any of them.
   
   And these gangsters are headed our way in big numbers. And these Russians have some interesting friends. Marc Rich, recently pardoned by Bill Clinton, is mentioned in the book, for doing deals with the Russians and trading in conflict diamonds with the Liberians. Robinson claims that Grigory Loutchansky also donated to Clinton's coffers; he is allegedly the world's most important dealer in black-market nuclear materials. He was considered important enough to be the subject of a 1995 eleven-nation, two-day conference hosted by Interpol. Sergei Mikhailov, who has accumulated a staggering array of passports, including a diplomatic passport for Costa Rica, is probably worth another conference.
   
   So too is the damage these people cause at all levels of society. As well as shaking down American based Russian hockey and basketball players, peddling guns, girls and gambling and putting contracts out on over zealous FBI agents, Robinson contends that Russia's gangsters are also undermining sovereign nations like Israel.
   
   Israel's Law of Return has allowed thousands of Russian gangsters, both Jewish and non Jewish, to establish themselves in Israel. Because Israel does not extradite its citizens, it is a perfect hiding hole for these ruthless racketeers, who have a staggering war chest of $4 billion to buy political influence there.
   
   If Robinson is to believed, the Russian mafia more or less control both the Greek and Turkish parts of Cyprus. They also seem to be well entrenched in London, New York, Geneva, Vienna and the world's other major financial centers. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies, meanwhile, struggle to catch even the small fry.
   
   Other countries, the Caribbean ones in particular, long ago sold their souls to the international criminals, who use them to launder their billions. Still, even Dutch controlled Aruba, the world's first mafia state, never went quite as far as the Seychelles, which offered internationally recognized diplomatic passports, plus guaranteed immunity on the island from any form of extradition requested by any other nation, for a mere $10 million. There were plenty of takers, until the tiny nation was forced to withdraw its generous offer of diplomatic immunity to the world's most ruthless criminals.
   
   Not that the Seychelles matter much. The Russian criminal gangs, the Colombians, the Mohawks and the rest of them are uniting in their drive to maximize their global profits no matter what the social cost. And, in today's globalized age, the West contributes to their excesses by buying their contraband, renting out their sex slaves and gambling in their shady casinos. And all their ill-gotten profits are used to traffic more human cargo and move more tons of heroin across our porous borders.
   
   And then there are the nuclear bomb peddlers, another legacy of the Soviet Union's collapse. There is, as Robinson tells us, enough unaccounted-for fissile material that once belonged to the Soviet armed forces to turn Europe and the United States into a moonscape. Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and similar people have shown that there is a demand for this material.
   
   Until we can dampen that demand, we must be prepared to live with the dismal consequences these suppliers of human misery beget. Not, by any stretch, a pleasant thought, but a realistic one nonetheless.



4. An outstanding look at modern international crime. Robinson has all the details and facts but puts them together in a compelling fashion that makes this book as much a page-turner as any crime novel. He has a knack for taking a complex subject and making it very clear without dumbing it down. I highly recommend this book, especially if you want to know why the "war on drugs" is failing miserably.



5. An unstructured sampler of crime anecdotes does not add up to a well-developed book-length thesis.
   
   I bought this book partly due to the reviews here on Amazon, but I was a bit disappointed. By the time I'd got halfway through, it was clear that Robinson has presented the idea of a "merger" of transnational organized crime as a catch-all category for his large supply of stories about gangsters operating in various countries.
   
   Robinson presents many short anecdotes, laced with speculative connections to fill in the many gaps in the record of known fact. Moving from country to country, he gives thumbnail accounts of the careers of various criminals, from their obscure origins to their final capture by the beleaguered law-enforcement agencies around the world. I found the stories too short to get a good feel for each of the players, and so it became a blizzard of names for me.
   
   What this book is not is a systematic account of the rise of transnational crime and how it operates. Rather, it sketches many different criminal operations and careers and leaves the reader to surmise how they add up to a transnational crime "system." Preoccupied with details and specifics, Robinson does not really help the reader by drawing principles and themes from the material.
   
   I also found that Robinson's sarcastic writing style detracted from the authority of the book.
   
   Robinson clearly has a large database of crime knowledge, and many contacts in the law-enforcement world. But he is a "short snippet" kind of writer, and the book, for me, did not feel like a single unified whole.