33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Condescending, sloppy, and utterly unprofessional, August 18, 2004
This review is from: Crime of the Century: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Hoax (Hardcover)
First off, I am neither a huge fan nor a huge detractor of Charles A. Lindbergh; I acknowledge and appreciate his contributions (which are many) to the field of aviation, and beyond that I have no opinion of him as a person. Therefore, I read this book with a completely open mind regarding the disappearance of his son, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., in March of 1932.
First, the positive -- "Crime of the Century" presents a fascinating 'alternative' solution as to solving the mystery regarding the child's disappearance, and it outlines a scenario which can go far in convincing the casual reader that Lindbergh had motive and opportunity to commit a crime for which an "innocent man" was eventually given the death penalty.
Second, the far more prevalent negative -- "Crime of the Century" is written in a sloppy, meandering, and poorly-edited manner, one which will turn off a lot of readers as being annoying and inexcusably unprofessional considering the fact that the authors are literally damning the respected name of a long-dead celebrity. Furthermore, the authors of this book have apparently picked and chosen their "evidence" from an a la carte table of other, more powerful artifacts that utterly contradict the entire premise of their book. In other words, the authors have either ignored established evidence that doesn't support their own thesis, or nipped and tucked at the pieces of evidence they did choose so that they would conveniently fit the slots they created in their story. Still further, the authors do a slapdash job of citing sources -- they make wild, bold claims about what people "thought" or people's "characteristics" without the slightest inclination to say where on earth they have the evidence to support such claims. Their "notes" at the back of the book are inadequate and perfunctory, making their entire book seem like something of a gossipy editorial rather than a cold, hard analysis that can withstand assault by doubters.
Perhaps most annoying of all about this book is that the authors do not concede that their thesis is a POSSIBILITY among many, but rather THE answer to what happened. This strikes me as both disrespectful to the vast body of work already published about this case -- work which is generally, I dare say, infinitely superior to this one both in dedication to research and in presentation -- and to the weighty subject matter at hand. A baby was murdered. A family grieved.
Rather than do the sensible (and responsible) thing of taking in all the evidence compiled by other researchers over the years and exploring all avenues to where such evidence leads, describing to the reader why other theories are flawed where as their own has so convinced them that they are willing to call a national hero not only a murderer, but also a DOUBLE murderer (because if Lindbergh was guilty he led directly to Haupmann's execution), the authors of this book have chosen instead to write a sloppy, poorly-executed book that focuses on sensationalism rather than responsible investigation.
They look at all the evidence from a biased viewpoint, contort potentially useful evidence so that it supports their biased viewpoint, and conveniently do not mention any evidence which refutes their biased viewpoint.
The authors of this book have a wonderful and absolutely plausible scenario. They fall flat on their faces, however, because they don't take the time to destroy other theories in a methodical manner. They waste many pages on interesting but useless "background" information on Lindbergh's life -- ostensibly to establish Lindbergh's 'shady' personality, although I suspect part of the reason might be to flesh out their book, since the amount of "research" they did could have been condensed to a paper of about 15 pages rather than the meandering 250 page mess it eventually became. They could have much more usefully filled those extra pages with responsible documentation of sources and methodical dismantling of established theories regarding this case.
This book should be one star, but it gets two for its interesting theory.
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Case Closed: Lindy did it., August 26, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Crime of the Century: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Hoax (Hardcover)
As a 25+ year law enforcement veteran, and current homicide detective (and NO, I was not involved in the O.J. investigation) my first impression upon hearing of this book and its premise, was to dismiss it out of hand. After all, I had read most everything else about the Lindbergh case and there had never been a hint that the kidnap was anything but real. Then I read the book. It's true, the book is not exceedingly well written but these two guys are not professional journalists. What I sensed as I read was the presence of a fellow dogged police investigator (Monier) and, what I have begrugingly come to admire over the years: the skeptical mind of the criminal defense lawyer (Ahlgren). In tandem, their approach to sleuthing an old case is deadly. As I proceeded through the book all the crazy facts of the case which had never seemed to make sense to anyone, and which had provided much of the lure to the Lindbergh case, suddenly seemed to fall into place. The authors show in Lindbergh himself those personality traits which, in my own experience, are consistent with a parent who commits a terrible crime, and then concocts a cover-up. Did Lindy in fact do it? The authors are honest enough to conceed that Lindy as culprit is only one of many scenarios, although one that has previosly been overlooked by the journalists and other amateurs who have studied this case. For me, in my own experience, I'd say it's the most likely explanation.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sixty-six year old hoax finally revealed. Spellbinding!, March 2, 1998
This review is from: Crime of the Century: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Hoax (Hardcover)
This book should have been a best-seller. Contrary to first impressions, it does NOT belong in the genre of "conspiracy theory books." In my opinion, it is just the opposite - an unconspiracy book. It unravels a conspiracy theory - one that has been with us for over 65 years and took the life of an innocent man. I have read all the books on Hauptmann, Lindbergh and the Morrows that I can find. But,I continually re-read Crime of the Century: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Hoax by Stephen Monier and Gregory Ahlgren because the theories proposed in their riveting account of their own modern-day re-investigation of that sensatonal case are so shockingly plausible! The reader comes away asking "Why didn't anyone think of this before?!" In fact, their theories make all of the loose jig-saw-puzzle pieces, which journalistic investigators like Anthony Scaduto "Scapegoat" (1976) and Ludovic Kennedy "The Airman and the Carpenter" (1984) have repeatedly questioned since 1976, finally fit into all the right places. Ahlgren and Monier have tied up so many loose ends with the simplest approach of all. It has been apparent to many investigators since 1976 that Hauptmann was "scapegoated" by the police in a frantic attempt to solve this 3-year-old kidnapping murder. If that is so, and there is enough evidence uncovered now to conclude that a travesty of justice did take place in Flemington, who really did it? If Hauptmann wasn't in New Jersey climbing a ladder, who was? In this age of public awareness regarding parental abuse (and murder) of young children (Susan Smith in South Carolina is a good example) is it so implausible to think that a parent could have been responsible for a kidnapping hoax 66 years ago? Even if that parent is the greatest hero in the world? All the more reason, I would think, for a man to cover up a foolish and sadistic prank that went awry. How would it have looked to the world if the "Lone Eagle" admitted accidentally dropping his young child from a homemade ladder out of the nursery window on a rainy, windy March evening while playing one of his typically sadistic "pranks" on his wife? When you read biographies of Charles Lindbergh you begin to understand where Monier and Ahlgren are coming from. He seems to have been a pathological prankster. Even Anne Lindbergh, in a letter to her mother-in-law, written on the night of the "kidnapping", reveals that her first instinct upon looking at an empty crib was that Charles took him "as a joke." Why would any mother even think of such a thing? Because her husband had a very twisted side to his personality, playing sadistic pranks throughout his life. The authors have reinvestigated the case, and the trial, as if it were happening today. Policemen of the 30s were trained simply as foot soldiers in the battle against gangster crime and had no psychological training to ever enable them to suspect a hero - (it was also pre-Watergate). The New Jersey Police actually handed the entire investigation of the "kidnapped" child over to it's father! Yes, Lindbergh was the order-giver during the entire investigation up until the baby's body was found in the woods near his home 2 months later. Even H.Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr. (Jersey Chief of Police) took orders from the missing baby's father! The authors have brilliantly explained many puzzling episodes in the enire fiasco - Why did Lindbergh lie at the Hauptmann trial? Why did the Lindbergh family suddenly, and secretly, leave the United States? Was it the fault of the Press that the Lindberghs could not live in America? Why did Lindbergh become an outspoken anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer? There will never be an end to the complexities of this case but this book offers any reader an enticing challenge to think skeptically and logically about our justice system as well as the realities of human nature.
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