Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History: Fifty Fascinating Cases from the Files

by LIFE

A richly illustrated compendium documenting some of America's most famous and appalling crimes offers a visual look at each case, the perpetrators, and the justice system at work, in such cases as Leopold and Loeb, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Manson Family, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and the Oklahoma City bombing, among others. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, Horror, History

144 pages, Hardcover

First published November 6, 2007

About the author

Life was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, Life was a wide-ranging weekly general interest magazine known for the quality of its photography.

Reviews

[Christy Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found some of these interesting, but a lot didn't have enough story to them. Some I already knew about and others I learned more about. Lizzie Borden has been one since I was teenager that always fascinated me cause who did it since never solved. The political ones weren't very interesting though did find out few things on them I hadn't know.

Didn't know that the Black Dahlia case wasn't solved either according to when this was published. Somethings hit close to home like Virginia Tech shooting. Those are the worst even though book only gave so little to them. Even thes days they get more vicious.

Checked out from library. A few I would like know more about one day and some I'm okay not reading more into.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a fast interesting read. It covers a wide range of crimes, political ( Oddly enough their introduction was about how they were not covering political crimes and then that is their first chapter), passion, profit and psychos. (Psychos is my word, not theirs.) The last chapter School Shootings was too broad, too short and too biased. It felt to me very tacked on.

There was quite a few cases I have never heard of. It is terrifying fact that humans have been awful for a long time. It is no new modern ill.

It was a fast read. I learn something. It makes me want to re-download a book about forgotten notorious crimes from my Kindle and I have look up some of these cases. Overall, it was a good book.

[Courtney (Campbell_Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This read like a written-form podcast, providing a brief narrative of each crime. Great for those just getting into true crime. It also provided pictures for each case so readers can get a visual of the real-life people involved. I especially liked that each section is categorized by motive (politics, profit, passion, and just pure hatred/evil).

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here you get an excellent interview of the most notorious crimes ever in the USA: Lincoln, JFK, Mississippi Burning, Martin Luther King, Patty Hearst, Watergate, Reagan, Oklahoma City Bombing, O.J. Simpson, Lizzie Borden, Black Dahlia, Psycho, Manson, Son of Sam, Ted Bundy, Beltway Snipers... many extraordinary photos and articles to each case. Horrifying true crime. Highly recommended!

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to learn about human behavior… nothing completely special or interesting. Not enough to get into a story

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book containing a brief snapshot, most only one or two pages, of some of the most famous crimes in American history. There is no in depth coverage of the crimes. For instance the case of the murder of Nicole Simpson's murder is two pages and there must be twenty plus full length books written on that case alone. Instead the strength of the book is what Life magazine does so well, the pictures. The photographs are beautifully done as well as thought provoking. In the OJ case, there is a picture of Nicole and OJ that was taken five years before they were ever married. They both look so beautiful and in love that is hard to believe from looking at the photo how the love story would end. Another memorable photo is one taken of Ted Bundy from the floor looking up into his face. It was just how his victims would have seen him as he was over them killing them. Chilling. The few crime scenes that are presented here are not gory at all and are as tastefully presented as possible. Murder is not the only crime covered here, robbery such as the one that took place at the Gardner art museum also is presented. This is a fun book to look through on an afternoon for the photos alone but for the already crime initiated there will be no new surprises.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this synopsis of major crimes throughout the semi-recent history. Each story was quite short, but enough to gather interest for later further study. The chosen stories were all quite interesting, sometimes gross or weird. Plenty of them, I had heard of, but plenty I had not or knew little about. Beautifully produced book with many images.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overview of the most vivid, rememberable, and remarkable crimes in our history. Some you will know (JFK assassination) and some of the crimes of passion were new to me. It is an easy quick read that may introduce you to research/read a more in-depth book.

[Liesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

yeah. . .for all you CSI/law and order/criminal minds junkies. . .this book is tons o fun

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some stories are so famous in everyday life, yet we really don't know the whole tale. This was an interesting look into everything from Jimmy Hoffa to Lizzie Borden.

[Jennifer Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a disturbed person like myself and can't get enough of true crime stories with creepy photos this is the book for you. Loved it!

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing. I liked learning more details about some well-known crimes/criminals (I'm a bit of a crime buff).