The Trials of Hank Janson

Book Description

Short listed for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for Non-Fiction In January 1954 twelve jurors sat at the Old Bailey to hear charges of obscenity against seven crime novels written by the immensely popular Hank Janson, whose sexy thrillers had sold five million copies in only six years. Hank's publisher and distributor were found guilty and imprisoned and an arrest warrant put out for the author. The Trials of Hank Janson presents a full biography of that author - in reality, a man named Stephen D Frances - from his early life, through the highs and lows he experienced with the Janson novels, to his eventual decline and death in Spain, cut off from the character he had created. In addition, respected researcher and pulp fiction historian Steve Holland gives, for the first time, a comprehensive account of the early 1950s Home Office crackdown on so called 'obscene' paperbacks - of which the Janson novels were the prime examples - during which some 350,000 books and magazines were destroyed on magistrates' instructions: a true story less notorious but no less remarkable than the controversy surrounding Lady Chatterley's Lover. The Trials of Hank Janson also details the full publishing history of the Janson stories, from 1946 right up to the present day with Telos's reissue series.

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A must read!!!

Dale Earnhardt: The Pass in the Grass and Other Incredible Moments from Racing's Greatest Legend
Charlotte Observer , and Mark Garrow
Manufacturer: Sports Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Dale Earnhardt: 23 Years with The Intimidator

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Dale Earnhardt : Remembering the Intimidator

ASIN: 1582614393

Book Description

The sudden and tragic death of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt shook the sports world. And it left racing fans yearning for a chance to relive the incredible career of the circuit's most dominating personality. Earnhardt's most memorable accomplishments are captured in this unique compilation that combines the textual and photographic archives of The Charlotte Observer with the audio library of veteran NASCAR broadcaster Mark Garrow. Unlike any product on the market today, this book allows fans to read and hear about the amazing exploits of this NASCAR icon. The book and accompanying audio CD highlight Earnhardt's most memorable races -- from his first win in 1979 at Bristol to his seven Winston Cup championships to his emotional win at Daytona in 1998 to his shocking death in 2001. And there are many others in between, including Earnhardt's famous "pass in the grass" at Charlotte in 1987 to beat Bill Elliott and his "spin and win" victory over Terry Labonte at Bristol in 1999. The book and audio CD also include Earnhardt's reaction to the first Winston Cup victory of his son Dale Jr. This unique CD packaged with the book contains actual race calls, as well as pre- and post-race interviews with the Intimidator himself and with the competitors who lined up against him each week.

Customer Reviews:

A must read!!!.......2007-01-29

This book is a must read! If you love NASCAR and Dale, then you'll love this book.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting, but there is... a ... better... Skywalker..........2005-11-15

I read the older edition and loved it, but the "revised" edition is lacking. I believe that the more accurate, and far more interesting tale is spun in the recent book Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution. That book has a technical edge that Skywalking does not (both good and bad news, I suppose), Droidmaker smacks of deeper truths and less sensationalistic noise. Skywalking covers Lucas' youth very well, and stories of the production of his early films, but I don't think it's really that good a book. I suppose it's a must-have for the fan, but take that with a grain of salt. There are better and more current books now available -- in particular, Hearn's Cinema of George Lucas and Rubin's Droidmaker.

Well written, bot not accurate..........2005-05-20

An extremely well written book but I find some of the information within to not be entirely true. I have researched Lucas' achievements for nearly the last 20 years and Skywalking paints him to be egomaniacal, something that Lucas is far from.

To add, Lucas pulled his support for the book due to that very issue. Pollock is no doubt a talented writer, and there is some very good info within, but the author should go get a position at The Enquirer if he wants to spread gossip, which is just what he does in the updated version of the book, after Lucas expressed his concerns. Pollock takes several cheap shots at Lucas in a new chapter, unwarranted snips that are obviously meant as retaliation by Pollock. He gives Lucas an unwarranted suckerpunch by mentioning the obviously painful divorce from his wife Marcia. This is a real low blow that you would not suspect from a man of Pollock's stature in the industry.

Moreover, Pollock also mentions that Lucas is sue-happy, threatening to sue anyone who attempts to even mention his Star Wars franchise. This is simply not true. I myself wrote a book about the Star Wars films, and I was in contact on two different occasions with Lucasfilm representatives. Never once did they try to hinder my efforts or threaten me. In fact, they were even encouraging and thankful and always remained professional and courteous.

To add more negativity, Pollock paints incorrect images in his book. He makes it sound as if Harrison Ford considers Lucas to be like a plantation owner. "Master George," so Pollock would like readers to think. This could not be further from the truth. Harrison highly regards Lucas as one of his most admired filmmakers and friends. Ford has said in many interviews that the success of his career came largely from his association with Star Wars. Ford also only signed on to do three Indiana Jones pictures because Lucas was involved. Harrison stated in an interview that he signed on because he "knew the character and abilities of the filmmakers (Lucas/Spielberg) involved." Also, Ford stated in front of millions of viewers at the AFI Lucas award ceremony "I love you man." Doesn't sound to me like Harrison dislikes Lucas.

Furthermore, Pollock states that Lucas is like a hermit, hiding inside the walls of his ranch and secluding himself from the world. However, in another paragraph, Pollock mentions how Lucas must meet and greet over a hundred people a day, per Lucasfilm's daily operations. If I had to do that I'd want to be left alone for some quiet time, too.

Pollock then includes comments by movie critics who feel that Lucas has ruined big budget action films by inspiring other filmmakers to direct "all action" and "no story" films, leaving the movie-goers of today with lackluster action and sci-fi films. This is the biggest error of all. Lucas made Star Wars, a film that touched viewers across the globe -- because of its story and likeable characters -- and brought in the biggest fan explosion that Hollywood has ever seen. Lucas made a good movie that, at the time, was cutting edge and risky. If filmmakers of today can't match Lucas' ability to make a good film, like Star Wars, how can that be blamed on Lucas? Lucas made a good film and it struck a chord then as it does now. Blaming Lucas for ruining films of today is like going to an eatery on the north side of town, getting served a crappy meal, but instead of getting angry with the person who served your meal, you go to another eatery on the south side of town, who had nothing to do with your meal, and blame them. Ridiculous.

Sounds like Pollock is just jealous. He has an impressive career in the film industry, but he'll never match the iconic status that Lucas has achieved. Really, when you say Dale Pollock who perks up? When you say George Lucas people know what he's done. And this book just makes Pollock seem bitter. Pollock set out to write a controversial book about Lucas, and that's just what he did. Now Pollock bashes Lucas in interviews and has become the mascot for all Lucas-haters. What a shame.

Lucas' reputation as an integral man abounds with those who know him and have seen his efforts. It is a shame that this book doesn't focus on the positives.

A good book but be cautious of what you read...some of it is not true.

Great read.......2002-09-19

Haven't read a bigraphy so interesting since I browsed through richard branson's 3 years ago. it's always great to read about a rollercoaster life, especially one as up and down and then up up up as george Lucas...

Really Well Written... top marks

Excellent, just needs to be updated.......2002-04-28

I'm a Star Wars fan, and always wondered what kind of person George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, was. This book pretty much answered any and all questions I had about the Master Jedi himself.

Pollock's narrative of Lucas's life begins with George's childhood, then proceeds into his rebellious teen years--which was the inspiration for American Graffiti--then straight onto Lucas' student filmmaker years and finally to his highly successful movie career. The latter of which is when Star Wars and its sequels were produced and established Lucas as one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of the medium.

The book offers a balanced, journalistic account of Lucas' life, with very little opinion injected into the book. Some places Pollock seems to praise Lucas too much, but it's nothing too extreme.

The only real problem is that the book was written during the production of Return of the Jedi, when Skywalker Ranch wasn't finished, George was still married to first wife Marcia, and before the flops Willow and Howard the Duck. I read the revised edition which has an intro mentioning these things, but the book's main narrative is about what's happened to Lucas up to 1983.

I'd recommend this book to any fan of Star Wars, and anyone else curious about Lucas himself.

The reluctant director.......2000-12-28

In times past the function of biographies was generally to elevate their subjects to noble heights and focus on the individuals accomplishments. In modern times the function of biographies often seems to be to tear down their subjects, ruthlessly exposing every flaw and possible past transgression of the person under examination. This biography of film director/producer George Lucas is an evenhanded look at his life and work, even if some of the conclusions it's author arrives at are necessarily personal rather than certifiably factual in nature.

The book is peppered with many quotes from Lucas himself as well as Spielberg, Coppola, Milius and others which lends it a feeling of legitimacy which I believe is probably lacking from other, less sympathetic biographies. Lucas himself is quite forthcoming about his feelings on his own work and what he sees as his limitations as a director. His comments on Hollywood were amusing if understandably bitter, especially for someone who has worked there in the past.

If one omits his earliest film shorts such as the student version of THX 1138 and the documentary Filmmaker, Lucas has only directed three films in his career, THX 1138, American Grafitti and Star Wars. His function since that last mega-smash has primarily been as producer and head of the state-of-the-art Skywalker Ranch production facilities up in scenic Northern California. He has also helped finance a number of less "mainstream" works such as Kurosawa's Kagemusha. It's unfortunately probably true that Lucas has never been taken seriously by many critics ever since Star Wars because that film was so consciously intended as a "kids movie". Despite the fact that it was embraced by popular culture around the world due to its quality and mythic resonance it does tend to overwhelm his early, more adult-oriented films. Lucas himself is quite skeptical of some of the intellectual critical analysis that has been produced on what was intended to be an innocent hommage to 30's style action movie serials and not a "think piece". It's also surprising that so many people continue to consider the Star Wars films science-fiction when they really fall much more into the fantasy genre despite all the high-tech trappings.

Of course this book includes reams of trivia on the films, from the origin of all of the characters names in Star Wars to the details behind preview screenings and loads of very funny anecdotes that could only have been provided by an industry as crazy and high-stakes as Hollywood. Mostly however this is the story of a man from modest origins who managed to beat Hollywood at it's own game and achieve financial independence from "the system" through a combination of very savvy business choices, luck and a personal vision that happened to coincide with what a large number of the paying public wanted to see on screen.

This review refers to the original 1983 hardcover release of this book.

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SKYWALKING: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF GEORGE LUCAS
Dale Pollock
Manufacturer: Harmony Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0241110343

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Skywalking : The Life and Films of George Lucas
Dale Pollock
Manufacturer: Harmony Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UQU4K0

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Skywalking. The Life and Films of George Lucas.
Dale Pollock
Manufacturer: Harmony Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NUM6NG

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Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas
Dale Pollock
Manufacturer: Harmony Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQJRUU

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Skywalking - The Life and Films of George Lucas
Dale Polleck
Manufacturer: Harmony
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QRQXGW

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Dragonmech Mech Manual (Dragonmech)
F. Wesley Schneider , and Matt Sprengeler
Manufacturer: Sword & Sorcery Studio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1588469891

Product Description

Institutional Review Board Member Handbook is designed to give IRB members the information they need to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects in a way that is both effective and efficient. Chapters are short and to the point with the goal of presenting practical advice on what IRB members should do before and during full-committee meetings. A large portion of the book is devoted to topic-specific chapters that list the criteria IRB members should use to determine how to vote on specific kinds of studies. This handbook is an excellent accompaniment to Institutional Review Board: Management and Function, Second Edition that IRB members can access and refer to quickly and easily.

Customer Reviews:

The real Mar Adentro.......2006-02-27

If you saw Mar Adentro and want to know more about Ramon Sampedro, this book allows you to meet him in his own words. At times funny, sad happy, abgry and very human. It should be available in English for those who cannot read Spanish.

A Greater Understanding.......2005-12-18

I am a 34 year old woman who only speaks a few words of spanish.
After watching the movie "The Sea Inside", I had to buy Ramon Sampedro's book - Letters from Hell. I could not find an english version of this book so I took it upon myself to learn spanish and translate Ramon's words.

All I can say is -- WOW.
This book is so heartfelt and honest. It is pure poetry. Ramon's will to die was truly the only thing he looked forward to. Life for him had no dignity in his state of being. What he argued is that The right to die should be a right and an individual choice.

I am forever changed after reading this book and watching the movie.

Memoria Viva y desde el Infierno............2005-08-10

Este hombre sufre un accidente y como consecuencia queda paraplejico.
En este documento narra desde el momento de el accidente hasta sus ultimos dias, unas paginas son realmente enternecedoras, otras de una infinita tristeza y a veces te sorprende con un poco de alegria.

Este libro esta basado en las cartas que el propio Sampero escribio.... con la boca, dada su condicion fisica era de la manera que el escribia, y dentro de las cartas describe su esfuerzo al escribir,,,

en fin es un libro que si vale la pena leer y ponernos en los zapatos de todos aquellos que estan vivos solo de cerebro y su lucha de alguno de ellos por su derecho de poner fin a sus vidas.
gran historia

Jack El Destripador/ Jack The Ripper: Cartas Desde El Infierno/ Letters From Hell

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Jack El Destripador/ Jack The Ripper: Cartas Desde El Infierno/ Letters From Hell
Stewart P. Evans , and Keith Skinner
Manufacturer: Jaguar Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

52 illustrations 8 charts 8 x 10 A superb reference book on the army of Napoleon Details more than 400 regiments Presents a combat history and officer casualties for each regiment Napoleon's Regiments examines each unit which formed Napoleon's vaunted Grande Arme, giving an overview of the unit's origins, its organizational history, the fate of standards issued, battle honors borne on all colors and standards, and much more. Also included are 200 biographies of regimental officers, giving a unique insight into the careers of these neglected figures during the Napoleonic conflict. With a superb Introduction, charting the development of the French Army in the Revolutionary period, and detailed appendices, this is the best single-volume study of Napoleon's army at war and a vital reference work on the troops that conquered Europe. Digby Smith, also known to Napoleonic enthusiasts as Otto von Pivka, is a highly respected scholar of this period and author of numerous books including the major reference work The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book and Armies of the Napoleonic Wars and Navies of the Napoleonic Wars.

Customer Reviews:

Essential History of La Grande Armee.......2006-11-16

While I agree with some of the other reviewers that there are some omissions that is a small thing when compared to the literally millions of bits of information contained in this book. I believe that the book would be especially helpful for modellers doing complete battles or for miniature painters who are portraying particular officers. Also for the sheer number of French officers mentioned I would think anyone looking for ancestors who served with Napoleon would find this book a good place to begin their research.

Vistula Lancers omissions inexcusable.......2002-03-14

An interesting reading all in all but I am still perplexed for the reasons of the Vistula Lancers being so marginalised? Agree with comments and errors pointed out by A reader from United States. The Vistula Lancers provided one of the finest cavalry regiment in the French service and deserve some decent consideration, at least no major errors and omissions. The more that all records on the regimet are easily available in France and in the French language, so no need to dig in the Polish archives. To the best of my knowledge, the Vistula Lancers charge at Albuhera was absolutely unique in the course of the Peninsular War and a statement to the effect - 1811: no actions of note is just inexcusable. Neither a word about another unprecedented conduct in the course of the war - the British refused to provide wounded lancers with medical treatment after the battle in a petty act of revenge. The Poles and the British have a major disagreement on the course of the charge with the British describing the Poles as perfect barbarians - only after loosing one must remember. Whatever controversial the charge was, a respectable scholar should rather not omit such an action. One should also keep in mind that Otto von Pivka is also an author of MAA title Napoleon's Polish Troops. So my expectations as for the book, at least the Polish account, was much higher. For Vistula Lancers treatment - two stars only.

missing data, omitions, errors.......2001-07-09

This known British author wrote several books about the Napoleonic period. I especially enjoyed his "Leipzig". However after reading his newest book "Napoleon's regiments" I am dissapointed. Author makes very numerous errors and omitions.

For example, the strength of the grenadiers of the guard in one of the diagrams is doubled. I thought that the strength of the grenadiers of the old guard is known to every child.

Another issue. Digby Smith writes: "7e Regiment de Chevau-Legers Raised from the 1er Lanciers de la Legion du Vistule on 18 June 1811.Napoleonic Campaigns and Officer Casualties: 1811: no actions of note."

This is completely wrong. In 1811 the lancers destroyed British Colborne's brigade at Albuhera! THis is the only case when the British infantry suffered so much in the hands of Napoleonic cavalry and this is ommited. Even more. Author mention many other French regiments whenever they captured even a single battle trophy, eagle or regimental color. But the Vistula Uhlans captured 5-6 Colors and there is not a beep about it. (Read these following pages and chck it out yourrself: 1er Regiment de Lanciers pages - 224-225 7e Regiment de Chevau-Legers pages - 260-261)

Writing about Napoleon's regiments and not mentioning Albuhera this is like writing about British or Prussian cavalry regs and not mentioning in their battle record Waterloo at all !

Another thing. Author writes about the Vistula lancers: "1807: in Prussia and at Danzig; no action of note; 15 May - ChEs Swiderski - wounded"

This is completely wrong. Just in this year, 1807, on May 15th the uhlans demolished Prussian forces at the Battle of Strigau (Silesia) despite being grossly outnumbered. In this battle participated also famous French general Lefebvre-Desnouettes. Why Digby Smith writes that there was no action at all is for me a mistery.

Author doesn't mention other important facts about this regiment, despite having in his bibliography books with description of these events in Peninsula and in Central Europe. (One of many more examples is the important capture of Paso des Despeñaperros by the lancers and thus oppening the road to Andalusia for the French army.)

No word about the fact that the Vistula lancers lost their Color to the Spaniards.

There are other errors and omitions.

There is no word how the voltigeurs were formed in Line infantry despite the fact that the line were the "mainstream". Instead author covers only the volt. in light regs. Pity, there were some differences between them and it should be explained.

And more. I wish that the Colonels during Imperial period - infantry are covered in the same way as are the colonels in Revolutionary period. If author gives the names of colonels in cavalry so why not in infantry ? There are big gaps with the infantry.

More. Writing about Mr Radziwill author writes that he was wounded at: "Hanau 30 Oct 1815". 1815 ? Hanau was fought 2 years earlier. And this is only one out of many errrors with the dates.

There are other errors already mentioned in earlier reviews, so no need to repeat them and make the list even longer.

So, after reading "Leipzig" written by this author I expected much more. If I have to recommend one of his books I take "Leipzig" instead of "Napoleon's regiments." I give it 2 1/2 stars.

Pure Gold For the Napoleonic Researcher.......2001-04-19

In Napoleon's Regiments, Digby Smith, a well-noted Napoleonic scholar, has compiled a detailed list of the units that formed the French army between 1792-1815. The Imperial Guard, Line Infantry, Light Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery and other units are covered, usually at the regimental level. Typical entries list a unit in numerical order by regiment, listing it's pre-Revolutionary ancestors, it's title in 1792, colonels and personalities, campaigns and officer casualties. There is a huge amount of data in this thin volume and t should be in every Napoleonic library.

This is a superb volume. However while using it to conduct research on the French siege of Toulon in 1793, I noted that Smith had included information of questionable veracity. On page 49, under the listing for the 1st Battalion/28th Infantry, he lists a Sergeant Eberle who killed an Austrian major and for his act, was given a field promotion by General Dugommier. Unfortunately, there were no Austrian troops sent to Toulon due to political complications with Piedmont. While the 1/28th and Dugommier were at Toulon, there were no Austrians or Croats as Smith's entry claims. Later, on page 138, he claims that the "Royal Louis" battalion formed in Toulon was composed of men from the disbanded 2/28th Battalion. This is very unlikely. Admiral Hood's journal clearly shows that the French troops that remained in Toulon were mostly disarmed and used as civil police. The Royal Louis battalion probably inducted a few of these men, but most of its 385 troops came from disgruntled dockyard workers and petit bourgeoisie worried about Jacobin revenge. In both cases, Smith's entries display questionable information.

Despite some errors, which is to be expected in a work of this depth, this is a wonderful supplement for napoleonic research. Hopefully, reader comments will clean up errors for future editions.

Vive l'Empereur!.......2000-11-12

Once again Napoleonic historian Digby Smith has presented us with a data filled compendium that is one of the best Napoleonic references on the market today.

A fact-filled gold mine of information, this volume gives the history of every French line and light infantry regiment, all of the cavalry regiments, as well as the regiments of the Imperial Guard. There is so much information that at times it is overwhelming and you have to put the book down for a breather.

I anxiously awaited the publication of this volume when I heard it was in the publication mill. I wanted it for the information, but also because Digby Smith is a reliable author and it was being published by Greenhill, which has a superb reputation for publishing reliable and accurate Napoleonic books

This book needs to be on every Napoleonic enthusiasts bookshelf and it is an easy reference to use, as the units are in numerical order by category. There were only two things that I found not there-the Tirailleurs Corses, (Corsican Sharpshooters) and the 15th Cuirassiers. The Corsicans were a highly distinguished battalion of light infantry that were in Soult's IV Corps for the campaigns of 1805-1807, and were attached to Davout's III Corps for at least part of the 1809 campaign. In 1811 they became part of the newly reactivated 11th Legere (light) infantry regiment, along with the Swiss Valaison Battalion and the Tirailleurs do Po. An immensely distinguished battalion, it would have been helpful if they were included. The 15th Cuirassiers were an unauthorized regiment organized by Davout from a cadre of the 1st Cuirassiers in Hamburg in 1813 which eventually became a combat worthy outfit. Understandably, there were not on the regular French order of battle, but there inclusion would have been most interesting.

All in all, this is an immense achievement, and it goes will with two other volumes: John Elting's Swords Around a Throne, and Eduard Detaille's L'Armee Francaise. Highly recommended.

Book Description

The popular press dubbed him "the subway vigilante": Bernhard Goetz, who on December 22, 1984, shot four black youths on a New York subway train when one of them asked for five dollars. Goetz claimed to have fired in self-defense, out of fear that the young men were about to rob him.

Customer Reviews:

Fletcher book is a waste of time.......2006-01-23

The book is "Utterly disappointing and entirely uninsightful." Much better hard information on the Goetz case can be found at Wikipedia.com and in a juror's book "Subway Gunman."

More than the law was on trial back then.......2005-06-01

For days after four punks tried to intimidate a fellow passenger on a New York subway train into giving them money, only to discover that they had an excitable minor-league Rambo on their hands, my western New York hometown buzzed with all sorts of condemnation of this man. This was of course influenced by the liberal media calling Goetz "The Subway Vigilante". Never mind that the term "vigilante" really applies to lynch mob situations where a posse not sanctioned by the law goes out and murders someone they consider guilty of a crime. It does not mean the actual would-be crime victim who's already in the crosshairs and as far as he knows has only seconds to live if he doesn't act p.d.q. But my neighbors and acquaintances were brainwashed (we all were to some extent) into thinking that street punks were themselves victims of a hostile and uncaring society. They were only kids and had the standard adolescent schoolboy machismo, so they were only fooling around. Plus, Goetz has a very German name, so everyone branded him with a mental swastika. I think it was at that point that society tried and convicted Goetz in their own hearts as a cold-blooded slayer of four young kids. Never mind that none of us had been on that subway train ourselves, urban mass transit being a hunting ground for human predators the world over. The legacy of those days, when public opinion was beginning to run towards cutting "the disadvantaged" as much slack as possible, has over two sorry decades come to its fruition. The only times I ever rode a New York subway were well before those day, and I wouldn't send my worst enemy down into one today. I tend to stay out of hard-core urban areas period, sticking to the 'burbs and rural areas, where law and order hasn't yet completely collapsed.

Brilliant introduction to criminal law and the Goetz trial.......2004-02-12

....

Anyway, I checked this book out at the library about a year ago. I chose it because (a) as a libertarian, I am interested in the legal right to self-defense, and (b) I was, and still am, planning to go to law school. What struck me is that the book is far more than just an account of the Goetz trial. Fletcher uses the issues raised by the trial as a springboard for exploring deeper issues. For example, are there limits to the scope of preventive, or "prophylactic," laws? (Anti-gun laws are preventive laws.) Here is Fletcher describing the rationale for so-called prophylactic laws:

"Possession offences do not prohibit wrongful deeds. Rather they regulate
behavior so that people never reach the stage of using the prohibited
article in a harmful or wrongful way. There is nothing per se immoral or
wicked about a single instance of possessing narcotics, guns, or counterfeit
plates. But it might be better for society as a whole to eliminate
these articles from circulation. Possession offenses are addressed
not to the single incident, but to the entire class of problematic
events....Lawyers express regulatory purpose of possession offenses by
referring to them as 'prophylactic offenses.'"

While writing an essay on child pornography laws about a month after reading Fletcher's book, I found myself thinking back to the above passage. I realized that laws prohibiting the possession of child pornography are prophylactic. I ended up using the excerpt in my essay.

Fletcher also introduces the reader to the Model Penal Code. Written in 1962 by lawyers and legal scholars, this project was an attempt to codify the criminal codes of all 50 states, along with the U.S. criminal code and that of Washington D.C., into one code. Yet with the competing influence of statutes, common law tradition, ever-changing case law, today's criminal law is anything but simple. Fletcher explains how the legal issues got so complex that, on at least two occasions, both the prosecutor and the defense lawyer got confused about their own strategies.

To sum up, Fletcher's book is, as the cover blurb claims, like an "education in criminal law and virtually a law school education in itself." In fact, the whole reason I looked up the book on Amazon.com is that I plan to buy it so that I have my own copy. Several times, while thinking about some moral or legal issue, I've thought, "Didn't that book about Bernhard Goetz have something to say about this concept?"

In contrast to the empty criticisms of the other two reviewers -- notice that their reviews give no examples, are too brief, and have an ad hominem flavor -- this book won the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association and received critical acclaim. It deserved all the praise it got. If you have any interest in the Goetz case, you'll find this book an interesting read. If you have any interest in law and legal philosophy, or you're just curious about how lawyers and judges think, you'll *love* this book. If you're having a career crisis and are of an intellectual bent, Fletcher's book might even get you fantasizing about law school.

A Crime of Publishing.......2003-01-16

Notorious for his attempts to be different, Fletcher succeeds in this book. Utterly disappointing and entirely uninsightful. One expects much more from a Columbia Law School "scholar" but is left unsatisfied as so often is the case with Fletcher. Better legal insights from the Bernhard Goetz trial could be had from reading old newspaper articles.

Unimpressive.......2003-01-15

This book utterly disappointing and uninsightful. One would expect more from a "scholar" who sat in on the trial. Unfortunately, as is too often the case, Fletcher fails to measure up.

Subway Gunman: A Juror's Account of the Bernard Goetz Trial

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Informative!

Subway Gunman: A Juror's Account of the Bernard Goetz Trial
Mark Lesly , and Charles Shuttleworth
Manufacturer: British Amer Pub Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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A Crime of Self-Defense: Bernhard Goetz and the Law on Trial

ASIN: 0945167083

Customer Reviews:

Informative!.......1998-10-30

This is a well written story, that goes to the heart of the matter, namely, the burden placed upon a juror in a well known trial. This book places you in the juror seat thoughout the trial process. You experience both the defense and prosecutions side of the evidence, as presented to the jurors, through the use of text from the actual trial transcripts etc. I would recomend this book to anyone, who likes an easy read, and a story, that keeps your interest up. The author, did a fine job, of conveying the mood of the trial and of all the participants involved.

A Crime of Self-Defense: Bernhard Goetz and the Law on Trial

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A Crime of Self-Defense: Bernhard Goetz and the Law on Trial
George P. Fletcher
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOUIMM

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