At once horrifying and fascinating, The Crime Archive is a rogue's gallery of murderers, hitmen, gang leaders, and kidnappers. This gripping foray into the criminal underworld details a variety of offenses--from serial killings to drug smuggling, localized rampages to international headlines. Includes rare facsimiles of documents that led to the capture and conviction of these criminals and more than 100 photographs.

Investigate 100 of the world's most notorious crimes, including the Great Train Robbery, the Lindbergh kidnapping, and the murders of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Were the perpetrators delusional, opportunist, or truly evil? Find out what really happened and how the cases were solved. Discover conmen with sheer verve, such as Victor Lustig who "sold" the Eiffel Tower to scrap dealers in 1925, adrenaline-fuelled escapes, and mind-bending exploits of pirates, kidnappers, and drug cartels. The Crime Book demystifies malware, cybercrimes, and Ponzi schemes and sets out the terrifying ploys of mass murderers from 16th-century Elizabeth Báthory who drained young girls' blood to the more recent exploits of Rosemary and Fred West. Like a virus, crime mutates and adapts. The Crime Book explains how pivotal moments in history opened up new opportunities for criminals, such as the smuggling of alcohol during the American Prohibition era. It also charts developments in justice and forensics including the Innocence Project, which used DNA testing to exonerate wrongly convicted convicts. It examines how the forces of law and order have fought back against crime, explaining ingenious sting operations such as tracking down the jewel thief Bill Mason and the final capture of murderer Ted Bundy. With a foreword from bestselling crime author Cathy Scott, The Crime Book is an enthralling introduction to humanity's darker side. Series Overview: Big Ideas Simply Explained series uses creative design and innovative graphics, along with straightforward and engaging writing, to make complex subjects easier to understand. These award-winning books provide just the information needed for students, families, or anyone interested in concise, thought-provoking refreshers on a single subject.

This book investigates what happens to criminal evidence after the conclusion of legal proceedings. In its 'afterlife', criminal evidence continues to proliferate in cultural contexts; often arousing the interest of journalists, scholars, curators, writers or artists.

Edgar Award finalist, Best Fact Crime American Masters (PBS), “1 of 5 Essential Culture Reads” One of CrimeReads’ “Best True Crime Books of the Year” “A fast–paced, meticulously researched, thoroughly engaging (and often infuriating) look–see into the systematic criminalization of gay men and widespread condemnation of homosexuality post–World War I.” —Alexis Burling, San Francisco Chronicle Stories of murder have never been just about killers and victims. Instead, crime stories take the shape of their times and reflect cultural notions and prejudices. In this Edgar Award–finalist for Best Fact Crime, James Polchin recovers and recounts queer stories from the crime pages―often lurid and euphemistic―that reveal the hidden history of violence against gay men. But what was left unsaid in these crime pages provides insight into the figure of the queer man as both criminal and victim, offering readers tales of vice and violence that aligned gender and sexual deviance with tragic, gruesome endings. Victims were often reported as having made “indecent advances,” forcing the accused's hands in self–defense and reducing murder charges to manslaughter. As noted by Caleb Cain in The New Yorker review of Indecent Advances, “it’s impossible to understand gay life in twentieth–century America without reckoning with the dark stories. Gay men were unable to shake free of them until they figured out how to tell the stories themselves, in a new way.” Indecent Advances is the first book to fully investigate these stories of how queer men navigated a society that criminalized them and displayed little compassion for the violence they endured. Polchin shows, with masterful insight, how this discrimination was ultimately transformed by activists to help shape the burgeoning gay rights movement in the years leading up to Stonewall.

Crime is a political football - both left and right are terrified of seeming soft on the issue, but for all their efforts, or apparent efforts, crime rates continue to rise. Clearly something needs to be done. But what? Peter Hitchens argues that the time has come to re-examine the criminal justice system root and branch - to cope with rising levels of violent crime, and to restore public faith in society's ability to defend itself. Whatever you think of the solutions Hitchens suggests to this problem, you can be sure that they will excite controversy.

In order to gain a better understanding of how criminal justice history is presented in major motion pictures, ten such films were selected for Crime, History, and Hollywood. The films were selected as good representations of criminal justice subject matter, mostly centered on specific crimes, their investigation, and courtroom outcomes. Films made across a wide range of times were also selected, and ones that represented American history from the mid-1800s (Amistad) and into the 1970s (All the President's Men). The most important aspect of the film selection was that they were based on actual historical events. While films such as the Shawshank Redemption and Twelve Angry Men are excellent criminal justice films, they are not based on true historical crimes or events. Each film (chapter) will open with an introduction to the historical event and film. The authors will then present the true historical events that the film was based on. Next, they will present a review of the film's narrative and how Hollywood portrayed the historical event. It should be noted here that the viewing of the film would best complement this section of each chapter. Then a review of the historical accuracy of each film will be reviewed, mentioning the various types of historical inaccuracies employed in each film. Finally, each chapter will present a conclusion in regard to the accuracy of the film, a list of books for further reading on the topic, and the endnotes. "Their passion for history shines through their writing, which is clear, engaging, and efficient....an important contribution to criminological studies of crime films..." -- Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books "[The] book creates a wonderful path for discussion and connection." -- Lee Ayers, Criminal Justice Review 39(4) PowerPoint slides are available to professors upon adoption of this book. Download sample slides from the full 17-slide presentation here. If you have adopted the book for a course, contact bhall (at) cap-press (dot) com to request the PowerPoint slides.

An extraordinary collection of photographs and drawings published here for the first time.