Murder in America: A History

by Roger Lane

Book Overview

Homicide has always fascinated us. In an age of terrorism, serial killings and drive-by shootings, the topic of murder frightens Americans, influencing much of our politics, our choices of where to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814207324
• ISBN13: 9780814207321
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Ohio State University Press
• Length: 399 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A fascinating history, and a persuasive argument.

The recent precipitous drop in the U.S. murder rate has been variously--and fairly plausibly-- attributed to prosperity, the "war on drugs", fudged reporting statistics, and anything else that may reinforce someone's political or social preconceptions. In a surprisingly engaging and entertaining style, Professor Lane examines the murder rate at different times and in different regions of the country, drawing on original records, and convincingly arguing for his basis for inferring the actual murder rate from records of coroners, cops, and courts. The results are often surprising, and probably counter-intuitive for many readers who will nonetheless find themselves satisfied with the conclusions they ultimately draw. Few readers, though, will find their initial notions supported, and part of the charm of this book is how painlessly it persuades. Those who enjoy the styles of Tuchman and McCullough will be very comfortable with this author's intelligent but definitely accessible approach. This is clearly a well-researched work, written with an academic's sense of obligation to discipline and to standards of scholarship, but Lane never allows his professionalism to interfere with the lay reader's sheer enjoyment derived from learning something new and interesting on every page.

First-rate history of America through study of murder

First-class study of the social and political circumstances determining rates of murder in the population overall and within particular groups. Gave this (non-US) reader many new insights. Particularly enlightening was the account of lynching in the post-Civil-War South as a continuation of the war by guerrilla methods - "murder as social policy". For me, it threw new light on the history of America in every period, and greatly deepened my (sympathetic) understanding of the nation's development.