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Nina Barrett

The Leopold and Loeb Files: An Intimate Look at One of America's Most Infamous Crimes Hardcover – July 17, 2018

by Nina Barrett (Author)

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In 1924, University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were young, rich, and looking for a thrill. The crime that came next—the brutal, cold-blood murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks—would come to captivate the country and unfold into what many dubbed the crime of the century. As the decades passed, the mythology surrounding the unlikely killers continued to capture the interest of new generations, spawning numerous books, fictionalizations, and dramatizations.

In The Leopold and Loeb Files, author Nina Barrett returns to the primary sources—confessions, interrogation transcripts, psychological reports, and more—the kind of rare, pre-computer court documents that were usually destroyed as a matter of course. Until now, these documents have not been part of the murder’s central narrative. This first-of-its-kind approach allows readers to view the case through a keyhole and look past all of the stories that have been spun in the last 90 years to focus on the heart of the crime.

Carefully curated and steeped in historical context from Barrett, this book allows the surviving Leopold and Loeb documents, most of which are in the form of either transcripts or narrative, to function as both artifact and literature, recounting the moves of the murder and sentencing hearing as well as addressing the questions that continue to fascinate—issues of morality, sanity, sexuality, religious assimilation, parental grief and responsibility, remorse, and the use of the death penalty.

This comprehensive, ephemera-driven history allows the reader to act as a fly on the wall and speaks powerfully to the unsolved mysteries of this distinct crime, in which the guilt of the perpetrators is unambiguous but almost everything else is open to interpretation.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Agate Midway
Publication date

July 17, 2018
Dimensions

7.5 x 1 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1572842407
ISBN-13

978-1572842403
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Leopold and Loeb Files:

“You have not experienced this case with anything approaching the astonishing and compelling detail that you will in ‘The Leopold and Loeb Files’. . . . graphically stunning.” —Chicago Tribune

“It’s one thing to read the canned narrative of the crime and another to see it coalesce in real time via police records, psychiatric reports, and court transcripts. . . . The effect is something like a séance scripted by David Simon. It’s fascinating to read the transcripts of Leopold and Loeb as they talk in looping confabulations, backtrack, contradict each other, and double down. Their voices on the page thrum with the smugness of youth.” —The Paris Review

“‘The Leopold and Loeb Files’ explores the dark side of the American dream. . . . It’s a thoroughly researched and lavishly illustrated chronicle that offers new insights into a murder and court battle that transfixed and fascinated Chicagoans—and still does.” —Chicago Review of Books

“True crime junkies, this one’s for you.” —Make It Better

“Photographs, interview transcripts, newspaper accounts, and more create an entrancing mosaic chronicle of a notorious early-20th-century murder. . . . Barrett’s collection of primary sources results in a fresh view of an infamous crime, as well as the social mores of an era.” —Publishers Weekly

“A new primary source collection gives new insight into the case, highlighting the ambiguities of the trial in a way that only true crime can.” —CrimeReads

About the Author

Nina Barrett, a graduate of both Yale University and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, is the author of three books and numerous articles, essays, and reviews. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and The Nation, among other places. In 2009, she curated an exhibition for Northwestern called The Murder That Wouldn’t Die, which inspired The Leopold and Loeb Files. Barrett is also the founder and owner of Bookends & Beginnings, an independent bookstore in Evanston, Illinois.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Agate Midway (July 17, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1572842407
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1572842403
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.4 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #681,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,592 in Culinary Biographies & Memoirs
- #2,532 in Crime & Criminal Biographies
- #3,600 in Murder & Mayhem True Accounts

Customer Reviews:
36 ratings

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D. Warfield

Perfect Balance...

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2021

Verified Purchase

I was quite surprised at the heft of this book; I was expecting a lightweight picture book....
This book was light neither in weight or information.
My copy was well-bound, nice paper, chock full of photos (people, documentation, etc..), as well as well-reached and informative.
Sometimes a well-illustrated book will rely to heavily on the illustrations, this one doesn't. I love another reviewers word (Jake Lingle's) "restrained". This book is not biased in the least and gives a very comprehensive look at the case as a whole.
I highly recommend it.

2 people found this helpful

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S. Chandler

If you love following an investigation, you'll love this

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

I have a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice that I received in 1995. I took a questioned documents class and study a bit about this case in the class. I won't ruin it by telling you why we studied this case in a class about questioned documents. Hopefully it will become clear if you go through the evidence in this book. I love the way it was put together seeing more in depth into the investigation. I highly recommend it.

2 people found this helpful

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Jake Lingle

Like no other book on the subject!

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is a wonderful volume, period! So well done and restrained about such a well known and complicated event! The book is scholarly, but so very readable! The format is a delight! The backstory of how the exhibit and book came about, is a story in it's own! Bravo, Nina!

6 people found this helpful

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Marsha G.

Great book, not so great binding

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2019

Verified Purchase

Book arrived in new condition and undamaged. However, the loose binding leaves a lot to be desired. The page signatures are intact, but it appears that if the book isn't handled with considerable care, some may come apart and cause pages to fall out. The book, itself, is excellent and I would've given it 5 stars except for the flimsy binding.
Addendum: The binding issue I've described seems to be an anomaly, as I had previously checked out the same book from the library and its binding was fine.

2 people found this helpful

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Sharon W

Detailed account of a senseless murder. Worth reading.

Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

Over the years I’ve read other accounts of this crime. Always fascinating. This is very detailed and mesmerizing.

3 people found this helpful

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Deannie20

Informative

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

Interesting story but it was difficult to read the smaller reproduced print and in the format of question and answers as Loeb and Leopold were questioned by the police.

One person found this helpful

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Cfc

good read

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2018

Verified Purchase

Very interesting read how the rich can get away with crimes

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