A deeply researched account of Depression-era criminals who roamed the Midwest by the Pulitzer Prize–winning, New York Times–bestselling author. John Dillinger and his compatriots’ crime spree lasted a little over a year in the 1930s and left a trail of bodies in its wake. Dillinger’s bank robberies—and his ability to elude both a half-dozen state police forces and the FBI—kept Americans riveted during this bleak economic period. In this book, the author of the classic The Rising Sun chronicles Dillinger’s short criminal career and the exploits of other outlaws of the time . The eminent twentieth-century historian conducted hundreds of interviews and visited banks, jail cells, and other relevant sites in thirty-four states. Leading up to Dillinger’s violent death outside a Chicago movie house, this true-crime story is told with great depth and vivid detail. “This is the famed Dillinger’s story, a compendium as well of the murderous doings of compatriots like Ma Barker, Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonnie Parker, the Barrow Brothers, and a host of other hip-shooting, car-stealing bank robbers who made underworld American history in the Depression. . . [A] brutal yet colorful book.” —Kirkus Reviews

The inside story of one of America's most notorious criminals

In the early 1930s women practicing criminal law were often held in the same low regard as the clients they served. When a corrupt prosecutor was determined to send as many of the notorious John Dillinger gang to death row as possible, female attorneys Jessie Levy and Bess Robbins rose to the challenge. They skillfully represented six of the gang members, a number far greater than any of their male counterparts. And yet, their story of deals gone bad, wrongful convictions and success against the odds has all but vanished from history. The recent discovery of interviews, personal correspondence, and court transcripts--a treasure trove untouched for over 80 years--forms the basis for this book, which traces the careers of Jessie Levy, Bess Robbins and the John Dillinger gang in detail for the first time.

John Dillinger was one of the most famous and flamboyant celebrity outlaws, and this book illuminates the significnace of his tremendous fame and the endurance of his legacy of crime and violence, and the transformation of America during the Great Depression.

Defining Memory uses case studies of exhibits from around the country to examine how local museums, defined as museums whose collections are local in scope or whose audiences are primarily local, have both shaped and been shaped by evolving community values and sense of history. Levin and her contributors argue that these small institutions play a key role in defining America's self-identity and should be studied as seriously as more national institutions like the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

He outsmarted every lawman in the country and became the most celebrated bank robber and master escape artist of all time. He was a man of cleverness and originality. During his career, he participated in three gangs and was involved in a string of bank robberies across the country. He successfully escaped several police and FBI traps, broke out of two jails, raided three police stations and helped to mastermind the biggest escape ever from the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City.

Indiana State Police Captain Matt Leach led the hunt for John Dillinger during the violent early 1930s. Pushing a media campaign aimed at smoking out the fugitive, Leach elevated Dillinger to unprecedented notoriety. In return, Dillinger taunted him with phone calls and postcards, and vowed to kill him. Leach's use of publicity backfired, making him a pariah among his fellow policemen, and the FBI ordered his firing in 1937 for challenging their authority. This is the first full-length biography of the man.

Charles Arthur Floyd, aka Pretty Boy Floyd (1904-1934), was one of the last so-called Robin Hood outlaws. He engaged in numerous bank-robbing exploits across the Midwest until federal agents and local police shot him down near East Liverpool, Ohio, on October 22, 1934. This detailed account of his life, crimes and death makes extensive use of FBI reports, government records, local newspapers and contemporary journalistic accounts.

Leap across time with bestselling author Harvey Rachlin as he collects over 50 of the most fascinating objects in the world, under one book. The Mounted Hide of Stonewall Jackson's Battle Horse, The Black Obelisk, The Rosetta Stone, George Washington's False Teeth, Vice Admiral Lord Nelson's Uniform Coat, The Elephant Man's Skeleton, and Lincoln's Death Bed are just some of the objects Rachlin explores with wit, pick and an amazing sense of spectacle. Publisher's Weekly calls Lucy's Bone's, Sacred Stones, and Einstein's Brain "entertaining and enlightening." Library Journal declares Rachin's work "fascinating." Parade says it is "detailed and authoritative." It is also intensely moving as Rachlin weaves together seemingly disparate histories into a holistic statement that celebrates human endeavor. This book is not simply wonderful -- it is full of wonder.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, America's most famous law enforcement agency, was established in 1908 and ever since has been the subject of countless books, articles, essays, congressional investigations, television programs and motion pictures--but even so it remains an enigma to many, deliberately shrouded in mystery on the basis of privacy or national security concerns. This encyclopedia has entries on a broad range of topics related to the FBI, including biographical sketches of directors, agents, attorneys general, notorious fugitives, and people (well known and unknown) targeted by the FBI; events, cases and investigations such as ILLWIND, ABSCAM and Amerasia; FBI terminology and programs such as COINTELPRO and VICAP; organizations marked for disruption including the KGB and the Ku Klux Klan; and various general topics such as psychological profiling, fingerprinting and electronic surveillance. It begins with a brief overview of the FBI's origins and history.