Murder in the Model City: The Black Panthers, Yale, And the Redemption of a Killer [Hardcover]

Paul Bass (Author), Douglas W. Rae (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 2006

May 20, 1969: Four members of the revolutionary Black Panther Party trudge through woods along the edges of the Coginchaug River outside of New Haven, Connecticut. Gunshots shatter the silence. Three men emerge from the woods. Soon, two are in police custody. One flees across the country. Nine Panthers would be tried for crimes committed that night, including National Chairman Bobby Seale, extradited from California with the aide of Panther nemesis, California Governor Ronald Reagan. Activists of all denominations descended on the New England city--and the campus of Yale. The Nixon administration sent 4,000 National Guardsmen. U.S. military tanks lined the streets outside of New Haven. In this white-knuckle journey through a turbulent America, Doug Rae and Paul Bass let us eavesdrop on late-night meetings between Yale President, Kingman Brewster, and radical activists, including Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman, as they try to avert disaster. Meanwhile, most heartrending of all is the never-before-told story of Warren Kimbro--star community worker turned Panther assassin--who faces an uphill battle to turn his life around.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Against the backdrop of an era when the Nixon administration and the FBI encouraged discord among dissident groups through informants and phone tapping, Rae and Bass recount the circuslike trial of eight Black Panthers accused of killing a suspected spy among them. After the body of Alex Rackley was discovered near New Haven, Conn., on May 21, 1969, Bobby Seale, the Black Panther Party's National Chairman, and seven others were called to court. Rae, a professor at the Yale School of Management, and Bass, a local journalist, write with a keen eye for detail, juxtaposing the events in New Haven with the story of Warren Kimbro, the man who was sentenced to life for Rackley's killing. A community leader whose Panther associations were "a short-lived aberration," Kimbro served less than four years before being released, and graduated from Harvard shortly afterward, dedicating himself to assisting people leaving prison. The authors succeed in crafting an unbiased and clear account of the Panther trials, yet it is the quietly moving story of Kimbro's redemption that will affect readers long after the book is finished. Photos. (Aug.)
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About the Author

Paul Bass has covered Connecticut for local, regional, and national publications since arriving at Yale as an undergraduate. He has won dozens of awards for journalistic excellence, including the New England Press Association's 1997 and 1999 "Journalist of the Year." He lives in New Haven, Connecticut. Doug Rae holds the Richard Ely Chair in the Yale School of Management. His published writings include the prizewinning Political Consequences of Electoral Laws, Equalities and City: Urbanism and its End. Rae has won numerous awards and fellowships, including a Guggenheim Fellowship (1968). He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; annotated edition edition (August 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465069029
• ISBN-13: 978-0465069026
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.1 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #954,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating October 24, 2009

By Shirley M. Pripstein

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I found this book captivating, but then, I live in the area and I know personally some of the people mentioned in the book. I did not arrive in New Haven until 1972, a full two years after the events chronicled, so it was all new to me. One woman in my book group said "I don't need to read the book. I lived through it." But you do need to read the book. Especially if you were or are in any way involved in radical politics. It's one of those non-ficton books that reads like a thriller, even though the ending is known. It's the wealth of details - and the details that are still unknown - that suprise and shock.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absorbing Account of a Tragic Episode September 19, 2007

By L. Murray

Format:Hardcover

I grew up in New Haven and was in my late teens when the events that Paul Bass and Douglas Rae describe so well occurred. As a college student living in Washington, D.C., at the time of the murder, I realized as I read the book that I had missed a lot of the important details of the terrible crime and its aftermath, including the trial and the organized protests by the Black Panthers, Yale students, and other assorted demonstrators. But the authors do a wonderful job at recreating exactly what was going on in New Haven. They unfold a very compelling story in a fair and balanced manner so that the reader will come away feeling sympathy for both the victim of the crime, Alex Rackley, and for the perpetrator, Warren Kimbro, a man who worked hard to redeem himself. For those of you who lived through the late sixties and early seventies, this book will remind you of what that time was like; and for those who did not, Murder in the Model City will give you a true sense of a turbulent era in our recent past.

5.0 out of 5 stars Growing up during the May Day rally !!! June 24, 2010

By Michael R. Carbone

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Having been born and raised in New Haven ,I remember most of these times either through memory or story telling among friends and family. I thought the book was very good and kept me very interested ,considering I knew most of what was going to happen next. Myself I was spending the night at a friends house when we heard about the bombing of the Yale ice rink,his father I believe was a Sargent on the New Haven Police force called his wife during the night. I highly recommend this book to all and especially those who grew up in New Haven when this was all happening .

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