Bloodletters and Badmen

by Jay Robert Nash

A narrative encyclopedia of American criminals from the pilgrims to the present.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Crime, Reference, Biography

698 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/



This book is exactly what the cover says – an encyclopedia. If you are the owner of a very small and über annoying dog like me, I recommend not dropping it whilst said tiny critter is prancing around your feet lest you end up in the next edition as the “Great Puppy Killer of ’14.”

If you’re looking for in-depth coverage of your favorite bad guy, then this isn’t the book for you. If you’re looking to scare the shit out of your new neighbors with an abundance of horrifying knowledge about a lot of different criminals, or you’re seeking some quality material to peruse while sitting on the “porcelain throne,” then this is probably a good choice.

Let’s face it, as morbid as it is to admit - murderers are fascinating.

[Thomas Zimmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stole an old edition of this book from my high school library in 1985, after reading about Ed Gein for the first time. It's still here on my shelf. Sorry, Sherwood High!

I know, I'm a low-down dirty book thief, but I sure have gotten a lot of use of this book. One of my favorite entries is on Bonnie and Clyde, which includes two awesome poems by Bonnie Parker. Here, check out 'The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde':
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5061/
Somebody should turn those words into the lyrics of a punk rock song!

hehehe- the more I think on it, the more this book seems to have corrupted me. I read about Albert Fish and I was like, wow, I must steal this book. And I'm still flipping through it occasionally when I'm drawing, and need a scary face with flat, dead eyes.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting as an overview. However, I'm convinced there are some factual errors here.

[Annette Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I've ever read. Maybe it was because I saw The Godfather. It was my grandpa's book. It took awhile to read it but it was very interesting and full of photos of old school gangsters. My grandpa was from Chicago and he ran around in that part of the city when he was young so he must've been fascinated with that era. So was I...

[Melina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love true crime and this is a nice, concise resource of many varied crimes, some famous, some not-so much, but all are interesting. It covers serial killers, sexual sadists, robbers, mobsters, and everything in between.

[Joe Iacovino · Rating 4 out of 5]

The greatest bathroom book ever!

[Neal Yamamoto · Rating 4 out of 5]

...lurid little summaries of just how bad humans can be; very interesting, 'though in a "watching-a-car-accident" kinda way...

[Treplovski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good reference, I think I first learned about this in an interview with Bill Pronzini.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up ages ago in a used bookstore. This is a great resource guide for those interested in this sort of thing. It has a lot of good photographs also.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not read this book entirely, it's more of a "pick up here and there encyclopedia". Some of the murderers of the past are really interesting.

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

More general than his encyclopedia on organized crime, and hence, probably more accurate. He covers a great deal of information in a good manner.

[Zadignose]

I read this a long time ago, when I was an impressionable youth. Looking back, that was probably a very bad idea. I blame my high-school library.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fave. The articles cover all kinds of aspects of American crime, everything from serial killers to bamk robbers and gangsters. Leads you to a lot of other interesting books.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted.”
― D.H. Lawrence
'You can write a song about Billy the Kid but not Al Capone. Capone was a businessman".---Bob Dylan

America sure loves an outlaw. From the moment the movies began Jesse James and Billy the Kid have been featured in dozens of films, to say nothing of novels, magazines and ersatz documentaries. Charles Manson received more mail than any other prisoner, including numerous marriage proposals. Americans love to cheer for the bad guy so, "say goodnight to the bad guy", just don't forget to buy your movie ticket first. The hard question is why this amour pour le gangster?. Is it, as D.H. Lawrence proclaimed, that Americans are Natural Born Killers, thus presaging Oliver Stone? Or, that America, having been born a frontier society remained loyal to frontier values, from distrust of all authority, church and state, to "shoot first and ask questions later?". Jay Robert Nash started compiling all tales and legends about American bad men, and women too (Ma Barker, killer nurses) back in the Seventies, and now in one-volume we have the definitive anthology. Pirates are alright so long as they fight on our side, like La Fitte during the War of 1812. Gunslingers merit our admiration as long as they only kill each other (the James Brothers) or act as death squads (Wyatt Earp and his boys at the O.K. Corral, Tom Horne). When we move into the twentieth century the Great Depression provided the nation with its own "social bandits", meaning they stole but from the right people, especially bankers (Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger). Can a member of organized crime be considered a "bad man". Dylan at first said no, but then wrote an ode to Columbo Family killer Joey Gallo on his DESIRE album, probably because Joey read Sartre and Camus in prison. (So did I.) John Gotti may have been the last major league criminal the American people rooted for; just look at what became of his nemesis, Rudolf Giuliani. If true crime is your groove thing keep this volume on your shelf. If you are a student of American history, BLOODLETTERS will remind you of the violent origins and progression of "the last, best hope on earth".

[Lloyd Grady · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an extensive encyclopedia of North American criminals from the pilgrims up until 1973. I have the first edition, and I wonder if later editions are updated to include more recent criminals. True-crime isn't really my cup of tea, although I'm confident that people who enjoy true-crime would enjoy this reference book. The most interesting entries, to me, were the many mobsters operating within crime syndicates in New York or Chicago. This book also includes wild-west outlaws, murderers, mass-murderers, bootleggers, kidnappers, cannibals, and robbers.

[Jason Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Riddled with errors (geographical, factual, and spelling errors in particular), this tome is nevertheless an interesting read. I first read the first edition when it came out, then purchased the second edition (updated in 1995) in 2002. I have not read any of Mr. Nash's other offerings, but I hope he found a better editor!

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is part 1 of a narrative of the worst America can offer the story of humanity: an encyclopedia of criminals, robbers, murderers, terrorists and other assorted ne'er-do-wells. The narrative has not aged well, but the stories continue to resound with history. A must-read of people to avoid.

[Julie Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about the outlaws of the Old West and the original gangsters of New York and Chicago - names I had heard but did not know much about. It is an older print so it was a little outdated.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic book that all true crime fans must own.

[WC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief, entertaining essays on many of the most notorious killers and criminals throughout American history. The author has a wry sense of humor and it's a good book to occasionally dip into at random.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book lurking on a bookshelf at my parent's house over Christmas and decided to give it a read as I'm currently on a true crime kick. While heavy on mafia members and old west outlaws, it was a fairly comprehensive encyclopedia. It was obvious which articles the author spent more time and effort on research wise, but most were substantial enough. The language used reflected the time period it was written in (ie: heeyyy there racism and misogyny!), but apparently there is a newer edition. I'd be interested to read that one to see how it compares. I give it 3.5 stars overall.

[Fred Grogan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nash is a writer you don't hear much of since his creative peak in the 1980s. He was a talented writer but relied too heavily on uncertain sources, such as newspaper morgues and other contemporary and sensational accounts. This lead to a world of factual errors in this encyclopedia of crime and his other books.
Still, I enjoyed reading this at the time and did read quite a lot of his other works back in the day. Most of which are also now called into question in my mind.
Even with all the caveats there are some pearls among the dross.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bloodletters and Badmen: A Narrative Encyclopedia of American Criminals from the Pilgrims to the Present by Jay Robert Nash (M. Evans and Co. 1973)(920). This is more info than one could ever need about notorious American criminals. This book fascinates teenaged boys. My rating 7/10, finished 1974.

[Deborah Beckett]

I still have the original copy of this book (belonging to my father), that we devoured as my "bedtime reading" as a kid.....no lie !!!

[Kevin Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before cable channels could air multiple documentaries about depraved people night after night, there was this book, a source of much guilty fascination.

[Jennifer Benningfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changed my life.

[Jim O'shaughnessy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful rouge's gallery.

[Belle Meade School]

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