From Booklist
Each chapter covers a span of years and begins with an overview that ties the evolution of crime to political, economic, and technological happenings of its era. The chronologically arranged entries describe cases, persons, and events that were either the first of their sort or unique in some way. For example, several assassinations (or attempted ones) are included, but not all; only selected terrorist events are described; and recent celebrity murder cases aren't here because they really aren't that different from the first ones. This makes for a book that is interesting to read or browse but not as comprehensive as the publisher's Encyclopedia of American Crime (2001).
There are a few surprising articles that the author appropriately links to the evolution of crime, but they require some pondering. For example, there are entries on the invention and mass production of the automobile and several others describing the origin and eventual establishment of the interstate highway system--not criminal activities in themselves but facilitating the criminal life.
The text is accompanied by black-and-white maps and photographs. Sixteen color pages of historical maps do not add much value since they have little to do with crime. The bibliography includes many online sources. The "Geographic Index" is useful, but the "General Index" is uneven in that some articles can be located by the popular name of a subject (Black Dahlia) but not by the actual name (Elizabeth Short), and vice versa.
This fascinating book will see lots of use and is recommended for public libraries. Sally Jane
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