What do you think?
Rate this book
And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank
The definitive account of one of American history’s most repellent and most fascinating moments, combining investigative journalism and sweeping social history
"Years later, the tale of murder and revenge in Georgia still has the power to fascinate...Intense, suspenseful.” —The Washington Post Book World
In 1913, 13-year-old Mary Phagan was found brutally murdered in the basement of the Atlanta pencil factory where she worked. The factory manager, a college-educated Jew named Leo Frank, was arrested, tried, and convicted in a trial that seized national headlines. When the governor commuted his death sentence, Frank was kidnapped and lynched by a group of prominent local citizens.
Steve Oney’s acclaimed account re-creates the entire story for the first time, from the police investigations to the gripping trial to the brutal lynching and its aftermath. Oney vividly renders Atlanta, a city enjoying newfound prosperity a half-century after the Civil War, but still rife with barely hidden prejudices and resentments. He introduces a Dickensian pageant of characters, including zealous policemen, intrepid reporters, Frank’s martyred wife, and a fiery populist who manipulated local anger at Northern newspapers that pushed for Frank’s exoneration.
"Years later, the tale of murder and revenge in Georgia still has the power to fascinate...Intense, suspenseful.” —The Washington Post Book World
In 1913, 13-year-old Mary Phagan was found brutally murdered in the basement of the Atlanta pencil factory where she worked. The factory manager, a college-educated Jew named Leo Frank, was arrested, tried, and convicted in a trial that seized national headlines. When the governor commuted his death sentence, Frank was kidnapped and lynched by a group of prominent local citizens.
Steve Oney’s acclaimed account re-creates the entire story for the first time, from the police investigations to the gripping trial to the brutal lynching and its aftermath. Oney vividly renders Atlanta, a city enjoying newfound prosperity a half-century after the Civil War, but still rife with barely hidden prejudices and resentments. He introduces a Dickensian pageant of characters, including zealous policemen, intrepid reporters, Frank’s martyred wife, and a fiery populist who manipulated local anger at Northern newspapers that pushed for Frank’s exoneration.
752 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 12, 2023
82 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 17, 2023
This is, as the subtitle states, a history of the murder of Mary Phagan and lynching of Leo Frank. Mary Phagan's murder took place in Atlanta and the lynching in Marietta.
I lived in Atlanta for over 20 years, and it was strange to read about buildings and locations that I am familiar with. What was terribly, terribly sad, but not surprising, was the outright racism and simmering anti-semitism in Atlanta, the capital of the New South, in 1913. Frank was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. However, there was enough evidence for the governor to commute the sentence to life imprisonment. The outrage of the population of Marietta and Atlanta, led to Frank's kidnapping from prison (how one asks could this happen), his lynching, and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.
There is so much that is sad and infuriating in this account--the somewhat farcical trial, the role the newspapers played (the social media of the time), the matter-of-fact racism. No one was ever convicted of the lynching of Leo Frank. Although it was known at the time the names of some of those who were involved, forces in the highest levels of Georgia government and society kept things quiet (the grand jury convened to investigate the lynching contained some of those who carried it out).
While I was vaguely aware of the case when living in Atlanta, I was more aware of the bombing of The Temple in I believe, 1958. The Temple is the main reform synagogue in Atlanta. If I am not mistaken, no one was punished for that either.
Reading this book, in these times, convinces me that the forces of racism, anti-semitism, Islamophobia, etc., etc., etc. will never really die. Do we only trust our own "tribe?"
4.25
I lived in Atlanta for over 20 years, and it was strange to read about buildings and locations that I am familiar with. What was terribly, terribly sad, but not surprising, was the outright racism and simmering anti-semitism in Atlanta, the capital of the New South, in 1913. Frank was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. However, there was enough evidence for the governor to commute the sentence to life imprisonment. The outrage of the population of Marietta and Atlanta, led to Frank's kidnapping from prison (how one asks could this happen), his lynching, and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.
There is so much that is sad and infuriating in this account--the somewhat farcical trial, the role the newspapers played (the social media of the time), the matter-of-fact racism. No one was ever convicted of the lynching of Leo Frank. Although it was known at the time the names of some of those who were involved, forces in the highest levels of Georgia government and society kept things quiet (the grand jury convened to investigate the lynching contained some of those who carried it out).
While I was vaguely aware of the case when living in Atlanta, I was more aware of the bombing of The Temple in I believe, 1958. The Temple is the main reform synagogue in Atlanta. If I am not mistaken, no one was punished for that either.
Reading this book, in these times, convinces me that the forces of racism, anti-semitism, Islamophobia, etc., etc., etc. will never really die. Do we only trust our own "tribe?"
4.25
February 4, 2024
This title presents a point by point history of the Mary Phagan murder case and Leo Frank's trial, appeal efforts, and eventual lynching by a mob in Marietta Georgia. That is both its strength and its weakness.
Personally I found it tough going because of the extent of the detail. It seemed as though the rehashing of the arguments and the courtroom events would never end. For some readers, however, these would be cherished aspects.
Today, Oney's linguistic choices regarding references to race feel very dated, especially for something written in the early 2000s. But for any writer, this would always be a difficult story to tell, pitting as it does a Jewish defendant against a poor black coconspirator who was probably the real murderer, but both are victims of a malevolent white majority that are using them for their own political ends. Oney tries to create a balanced account, but the entire events are awful. And Tom Watson's vicious whipping of hatred through his newspaper reflects uncomfortably on similar activities by politicians today.
Personally I found it tough going because of the extent of the detail. It seemed as though the rehashing of the arguments and the courtroom events would never end. For some readers, however, these would be cherished aspects.
Today, Oney's linguistic choices regarding references to race feel very dated, especially for something written in the early 2000s. But for any writer, this would always be a difficult story to tell, pitting as it does a Jewish defendant against a poor black coconspirator who was probably the real murderer, but both are victims of a malevolent white majority that are using them for their own political ends. Oney tries to create a balanced account, but the entire events are awful. And Tom Watson's vicious whipping of hatred through his newspaper reflects uncomfortably on similar activities by politicians today.
May 16, 2025
If there was ever a need for DNA, it would have been 1913! And here we are 112 years later and there are still questions as to whether Leo did this. With some of the personal info that was brought out about Leo, would make one question as to whether he did it or not. But personally, I don't think he did. I tend to agree with Alonzo Mann. First, for a young innocent young girl to be brutally murdered as Mary was is unheard of. But for men to lie to save their own skin, for one to be accused of guilt because of religion beliefs, for spectators to allow emotions to the point of outrage beyond unlawfulness, for antisemitism to overtake men to the point to kidnap, take the law into their own hands to kill by lynching, and the lack of respect for Leo's corpse at the lynching site is just wrong. The author did an outstanding job researching all of this. It was like he was at every character's side during the whole story. The Atlanta history is good, the book is extremely long, but very thorough.
December 29, 2025
Two weeks with two Shabboses at the parents' place, so I've been raiding various sibling bookshelves, as one does.
This was actually super interesting! The historical aspect being written as a narrative is really well done, I thought the writing was superb. Racial dynamics between Jews, Protestants, Catholics, and the general African-American communities of the time (obviously with some overlap) was far more interesting than I had known. I never really connected this with having any sort of international impact a la the Dreyfus affair, so it was pretty cool to learn about.
Knock on the book: it gets bogged down in details. Like, a lot. Like, sometimes you just need to skim your way through, as the minutiae of courtroom and trial things gets more and more small-scale. I'm glad the details are there, to be sure, but man are there a lot of them.
Really highly recommend!
This was actually super interesting! The historical aspect being written as a narrative is really well done, I thought the writing was superb. Racial dynamics between Jews, Protestants, Catholics, and the general African-American communities of the time (obviously with some overlap) was far more interesting than I had known. I never really connected this with having any sort of international impact a la the Dreyfus affair, so it was pretty cool to learn about.
Knock on the book: it gets bogged down in details. Like, a lot. Like, sometimes you just need to skim your way through, as the minutiae of courtroom and trial things gets more and more small-scale. I'm glad the details are there, to be sure, but man are there a lot of them.
Really highly recommend!
October 29, 2025
I grew up in Atlanta but was born in Miami. This horrifying story explains some karmic feelings I have had especially about the suburbs and the people there. So sorry Leo Frank and your family. What an absolute travesty of justice. It’s important to know the history of the places we live and become a part of, even if just to notice undercurrents and call them out.
March 3, 2025
Meticulously researched and remarkably compelling. The easiest 650 page read I’ve encountered.
May 24, 2025
Like many, or at least what I assume are many, I came to this book after seeing Parade and wanting to know the true story. I was I little daunted by the thickness of this book, and questioned if I wanted to know the true events that badly or of a scan of the Wikipedia page would suffice. I decided to plunge into the book to see how it goes, and boy am I glad I did. I did not expect to be swept into a fascinating and frustrating (and I mean frustrating in the best of ways that only true stories can achieve) true crime that shows little of the best and a lot of the worst of how people respond under pressure and tragedy. Yes, it is very detailed and factual as many have pointed out. But I appreciated the level of detail as it gives you the full picture of what was going on at the time, the setting people were in, and the forces at work.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews