The AIRMAN AND CARPENTER: The Lindbergh Case and the Framing of Richard Hauptmann [Hardcover]

Ludovic Kennedy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kennedy ( 10 Rillington Place argues that Hauptmann, executed for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's son, was innocent. He ridicules the key testimony of Arthur Koehler, who linked the ladder used in the crime to Hauptmann, but Kennedy is unconvincing. "Far too shrill," PW judged. (Julyp
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 380 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (April 22, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002170604
• ISBN-13: 978-0002170604
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,328,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars well documented and thought provoking book, August 15, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (DeKalb, Il) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Airman and the Carpenter (Hardcover)

This book deserves a wider audience and with the recent film version on HBO (CRIME OF THE CENTURY) perhaps it will get it. In this, the golden era of conspiracy theories, it is fashionable to pooh-pooh historians who question standard accounts of famous events, but Kennedy's work is so well documented and the lies told by prosecutors in the Lindbergh case so baldfaced and egregious that it is hard not to be saddened, outraged and flabbergasted at this exceedingly dark spot on the American judicial system. Almost Kafkaesque in its portrayal of a world gone mad in its desire to want so badly to believe Richard Hauptman was guilty, the actions portrayed would be funny if their consequences weren't so dire and if Kennedy didn't solidly ground them in the appropriate moral anger at those who knowingly lied in order to secure Hauptman's conviction and execution

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book illustrates how the media can convict the innocent, October 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Airman and the Carpenter: The Lindbergh Kidnapping and the Framing of Richard Hauptman (Mass Market Paperback)

This historically accurate recount of the Lindberg baby kidnapping is OUTSTANDING! There are multiple examples of newspapers publishing bogus evidence, which in time persuaded jury members. Readers will be amazed at how an obviously innocent man was convited of a crime, then acquited after his execution. This is a TRUE CRIME book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars At Least, Another Side of the Story, October 29, 2008

By 

Jennifer L. Gordon "Bridget Jones, Esq." (Aberdeen, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Airman and the Carpenter (Hardcover)

I grew up near Hopewell, NJ, the town where Charles Lindbergh lived, and where the kidnapping took place. As a result of this, and the fact that I am an inherently morbid person, I have read a great deal on the kidnapping of the baby. While I too question whether the right man was captured in the case, and while this book raises some interesting questions about the motivations behind some of the key players, this book is based on a number of assumptions that were later proven to be wrong out of hand (including an assertion that the corpse found was not the Lindbergh child, arising from a misprint in an early reward poster). The book is outdated, somewhat prone to be conspiratorial in a manner not favoring the airman, and really only suitable for persons deeply interested in the history of the case and trial, not those with a passing interest. However, if you really are interested in the kidnapping case, this is a good work to read, if nothing else for the balance it provides, and suggestion the popular answer isn't always the right one.

"Truth cannot be measured by majority opinion." Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI