Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers True Crime FEATURED IN THIS E-MAIL: * "Why They Kill" by Richard Rhodes * "The Professor and the Madman" by Simon Winchester * "A Very Private Woman" by Nina Burleigh * "Mean Justice" by Edward Humes * Amazon.com Presents the Best of the Century "Why They Kill: The Discoveries of a Maverick Criminologist" by Richard Rhodes http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375402497/entertainmentsit In "Why They Kill," Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Rhodes traces the life and career of criminologist Lonnie Athens, a man who took his own sad and squalid life and turned it on its head to make a groundbreaking career as a criminologist. Athens grew up in a violent, angry world. Rather than absorbing the sickness and violence around him, though, he studied it, and he eventually developed a theory about how violent criminals are created. Rhodes's critical examination of Athens's work forces readers to consider how violent our society really is, how it became that way, and what might be done to change it. When applied to well-known criminals such as Mike Tyson and Lee Harvey Oswald, Athens's ideas become concrete and take on an urgent tone: it's easy to discuss theories and predictors in the abstract, but these stories are real, and they repeat themselves in our society at an alarming rate. Rhodes's approach to this disturbing subject stands apart from many other crime books in its intelligence, humanity, and empathy. These are not just descriptions of "scumbags" and their brutal crimes, but intensely personal stories that reveal how a culture of violence propagates itself. "The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary" by Simon Winchester http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006099486X/entertainmentsit When the editors of the "Oxford English Dictionary" put out a call during the late 19th century pleading for "men of letters" to provide help with their mammoth undertaking, hundreds of responses came forth. Some helpers, like Dr. W.C. Minor, provided literally thousands of entries to the editors. But Minor, an American expatriate in England and a Civil War veteran, was actually a certified lunatic who turned in his dictionary entries from the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. Simon Winchester has produced a mesmerizing coda to the deeply troubled Minor's life, a life that in one sense began with the senseless murder of an innocent British brewery worker whom the deluded Minor believed was an assassin sent by one of his numerous "enemies." Winchester also paints a rich portrait of the OED's leading light, Professor James Murray, who spent more than 40 years on a project he would not see completed in his lifetime. Winchester traces the origins of the drive to create a "Big Dictionary" down through Murray and far back into the past; the result is a fascinating, compact history of the English language (admittedly more interesting to linguistics enthusiasts than historians or true crime buffs). That Murray and Minor-- whose lives took such wildly disparate turns yet were united in their fierce love of language--were able to view one another as peers and foster a warm friendship is just one of the delicately turned subplots of Winchester's compelling book. "A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential Mistress Mary Meyer" by Nina Burleigh http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553380516/entertainmentsit On October 12, 1964, socialite Mary Meyer was shot to death along a wooded path where she was taking her afternoon walk. Ordinarily such a crime wouldn't attract the attention of the CIA's head of counterintelligence, but Meyer was no ordinary Washington socialite. Born into a wealthy, bohemian family in northeastern Pennsylvania, Meyer studied at Vassar, worked as a journalist during World War II, married--and later divorced--a war hero, became a protofeminist, experimented with drugs, and had an affair with John F. Kennedy. When Meyer decided to try LSD, she didn't get it from some random dealer and trip in the park. Instead she went right to Timothy Leary--and, evidence suggests, may have eventually shared her stash with the president. Shortly after Meyer was found dead, her diaries were spirited away: her brother-in-law, Ben Bradlee, turned the documents over to the aforementioned CIA official, James Jesus Angleton, believing that it was in her, and others', best interest that her secrets die with her. "A Very Private Woman" pieces together some of these secrets and hints at many more. It's a compelling story of a woman who not only lived at the edges of power, influence, and history but who experienced and was buffeted by some of the most significant cultural changes of the second half of the 20th century. "Mean Justice: A True Account of a Town's Terror, a Prosecutor's Power, and a Betrayal of Innocence" by Edward Humes http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671034278/entertainmentsit Bakersfield, California, has earned a reputation for being tough on crime. District Attorney Ed Jagels took much of the credit for the incredible conviction rates in Bakersfield courtrooms, from high-profile child molestation busts to cases like that of Pat Dunn, a retired high school principal found guilty of murdering his wife--despite a disturbing lack of evidence linking him to the crime. "Mean Justice" tells Dunn's story compellingly, from his childhood in Bakersfield to the trial that would put him away for life. It chronicles his solid belief in justice and authority and his gradual disenfranchisement with the system that railroaded him for reasons that could only be political. Humes's exhaustive account also covers prosecuting attorney Ed Jagels's rise to political power and influence and the juggernaut of prosecutorial misconduct that caught many others, along with Dunn, in its fury. But it is, at its core, the horrifying story of an innocent man who had faith in a system that would eventually destroy him. It's not an easy story to digest, and it is apparently not an isolated incident: Humes brings up case after case where seemingly innocent people were arrested, prosecuted, ostracized, and jailed for crimes that may or may not have even occurred. "Mean Justice" is a gripping and fascinating book that deserves on many counts to be read. AMAZON.COM PRESENTS THE BEST OF THE CENTURY ******************************************* As the century comes to a close, Amazon.com takes a look at the landmarks in books, music, and video of the past 100 years. Selected by our editors, our lists take you decade by decade from the turn of the century all the way to the end of the millennium. But don't just take our word for it; cast your vote for the best book, video, and CD in our best-of-the-millennium poll for your chance to win our customers' 300 favorite music, book, and video titles. 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