DescriptionThe Devil's Advocates shows us the crimes and trials that have captivated the public, cases that illuminate the underlying principles of the American criminal-justice system. Among the examples: future President John Adams establishes the right to a fair trial as he argues on behalf of the British soldiers who shot and killed five Americans during the Boston Massacre. The original temporary insanity defense involves a prominent congressman who gunned down a district attorney over an extramarital affair. And perhaps the most precedent-setting case is that of Ernesto Miranda, an accused rapist who confesses to the crime without having been notified of his Fifth Amendment right and the right to counsel. Here is your ringside seat to gripping drama, as well as to the shaping of the legal system that we thrill to and curse at today.
DescriptionAs Bill Clinton's political and business mentor, Jim McDougal, with his knowledge of embarrassing real-estate and banking deals, bribes, and obstructions of justice, long haunted the White House. McDougal's vivid self-portrait, completed only days before his death and coauthored by veteran journalist Curtis Wilkie, reveals the hidden intersections of politics and special interests in Arkansas and the betrayals that followed. It is the story of how ambitious men and women climbed out of rural obscurity and "how friendships break down and lives are ruined". Anecdotes fall like bright coins from a raconteur's rich purse. "Whitewater" is shown for what it was, a venture in land speculation that fell victim to mismanagement and high interest rates. Lies and cover-ups were the inevitable result. Vintage political history, Arkansas Mischief is a southern tragedy with lessons for us all.
DescriptionBorn in Dublin in 1854 Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was educated at Oxford where he achieved a double first. His reputation as a dramatist, poet, and novelist was established in only seven years; from his first short story "The Happy Prince" to The Importance of Being Earnest in 1895. He died in Paris in 1900 ruined by a notorious libel case and two years in Reading gaol. On 18th February 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry left a visiting card at the Albemarle Club on which he had written: "To Oscar Wilde posing as a sodomite." The accusation led to a series of three trials and the imprisonment of Wilde. This compelling dramatic recreation has been carefully compiled from the original trial transcripts. Performed almost entirely by Martin Jarvis taking the parts of barristers, witnesses, judge, jury, and, of course, Oscar Wilde. It captures the flavour of the trials exactly.
DescriptionIn 1998, William Queen was a veteran law-enforcement agent with a lifelong love of motorcycles and a lack of patience with paperwork. When a "confidential informant" made contact with his boss at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, offering to ta…
DescriptionThe gripping true story of one of the 19th century's bloodiest mutinies, written by an award-winning maritime historian. On May 25, 1841, the Massachusetts whaleship Sharon set out on what became one of the most notorious voyages of that century…
DescriptionThe Shark Net, a vibrant and haunting memoir that reaches beyond the dark recesses of murder and chaos to encompass their ordinary suburban backdrop. Aged six, Robert Drewe moved with his family from Melbourne to Perth, the world's most isolated city, and proud of it. This sun-baked coast was innocently proud, too, of its tranquility and friendliness. Then a man he knew murdered a boy he also knew. The murderer randomly killed eight strangers: variously shooting, strangling, stabbing, bludgeoning, and hacking his victims and running them down with cars, an innocent Perth was changed forever. In the middle-class suburbs which were the killer's main stalking grounds, the mysterious murders created widespread anxiety and instant local myth.In Robert Drewe's hands, a whole time and region come to vivid life. Extraordinarily moving, surprisingly humorous and beautifully observed.
DescriptionTo all appearances, Dennis Rader was a model citizen in the small town of Park City, Kansas, where he had lived with his family almost his entire life. He was a town compliance officer, a former Boy Scout leader, the president of his church congregation…
DescriptionAmerican Gunfight is the fast-paced, definitive, and breathtakingly suspenseful account of an extraordinary historical event: the attempted assassination of President Harry Truman in 1950 by two Puerto Rican Nationalists and the bloody shoot-out in…
DescriptionMobster Al "Scarface" Capone, "Machine Gun" Kelly, Robert Stroud, aka the Birdman: only the most violent, desperate criminals went to Alcatraz Island, called "The Rock" and known for its harsh conditions. This gripping true crime classic, originally written in 1963 and newly reissued, tells the story of life on The Rock and of 14 ingenious escape attempts by the prisoners. Most notable perhaps was Frank Morris, whose daring plan of escape was the basis for the memorable 1979 Clint Eastwood movie Escape from Alcatraz .
DescriptionWho hasn't dreamed of finding a million dollars? Joey Coyle was down and out - the affable, boyish South Philadelphian hadn't found dock work in months, he was living with his ailing mother, and he was fighting a drug habit and what seemed like a lifeti…
