Kidnap Years: The Astonishing True History of the Forgotten Kidnapping Epidemic that Shook Depression-Era America by
David Stout (464 pages)
A look at the criminals and crime fighters who waged an epic
war of kidnapping and rescue during The Great Depression. From local police
forces to the F.B.I. to Congress tried to stem the tide of people being held
for ransom. From the children of beer barons to fashion designers to any person
off the street this book shows how bananas solving crimes used to be.
New York City before and during the Civil War was a city of
contrasts. While abolition societies made speeches about the evils of slavery,
city officials debated a resolution to succeed from the Union. While the
newspapers talked of abolition, the trading floors kept making money in the
sale of African slaves. An interesting look at a place not considered a hotbed
of rebellion (or a battlefield for armed conflict) but one that shaped the lead
up, action, and resolution of the war.
The deepest of deep dives into the decade (plus a couple
years on both sides) that changed the world. Klosterman goes hard on sports,
technology, politics, etc. to show what once was is back again. From the OJ
Chase and Trial shaping our modern look at crime and punishment to The Real World
changing how (and who) we watched on TV.
The hard working surgeons and doctors of WWI get the glory
in this look at plastic surgery in The Great War. Harold Gillies, in addition
to countless other doctors, dentists, nurses, did so much to try and put
soldier’s faces back together, sometimes from almost nothing. It’s heartbreaking
to read about soldiers who survived the war but their injuries cost them the
lives they had beforehand.
If you’re Leland Stanford and for some reason you want to
determine if one of your racehorses four hooves are ever in the air all at
once, who do you call? Well of course you call Eadweard Muybridge (or is it
Edward, or Helios or…or) an eccentric photographic innovator who arranged
cameras to provide a moving picture show (hey wait a minute) and answer the
question. Oh yeah did I forget to mention that Muybridge also killed a guy??
I heard The Profiles in Eccentricity podcast guys talk about
this book and it was very enjoyable. Gordon Comstock walks the tightrope of
being so unlikeable that he becomes unbearable but in the end manages to come
out ahead. He’s a boorish, conceded, egotist who just as you’re about to write
off goes out and redeems himself.
