LIFE MANSON: His family, their crimes, and the end of the 1960s

by LIFE

August 9, 1969: the hills of Los Angeles were so quiet, as one of the killers would later say, “You could almost hear the sound of ice rattling in cocktail shakers” in the famed canyon houses. Those killers, disciples of cult leader Charles Manson, would soon be famous for committing a series of grisly murders at his behest. While Manson’s goal was to sow race riots was intentional, his victims were random: a young actress and her friends; a grocer and his wife. Few crimes have been so dramatic, engrossing, and difficult to truly understand. Now, 50 years later, people are still fascinated by the crimes that seemed to mark the end of an era of peace and love, and the editors at LIFE present the special edition, ‘Manson.’ Revisit “Manson’s World,” with the hippies, the forming of the Family, and the man himself. Then, explore the shocking details of “The Manson Murders.” Consider “The Aftermath,” including the dramatic trial, the cultural shift toward violence and fear, and Manson’s life in prison. Filled with rare photographs, including images of Manson’s followers living on Spahn Ranch, LIFE’s ‘Manson’ continues to explore, like Quentin Tarantino’s new film ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,’ the motivations, the magnetism, and the mayhem that possessed the man behind the murders. Please note that this product is an authorized edition published by the Meredith Corporation and sold by Amazon. This edition is printed using a high quality matte interior paper and printed on demand for immediate fulfillment.

Genres: True Crime

96 pages, single_issue_magazine

Published July 19, 2019

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

[Jacinta Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this special edition of Life contained quite a bit of information about Manson that is already pretty well-known, they also included some lesser-known articles. The most interesting sections were part of the transcript from Linda Kasabian's testimony against Manson and the examination into Manson's influence on modern pop culture. If you're into true-crime, but don't want to commit to reading a whole book, this is a good starting point.

[Kristen Barenthaler · Rating 3 out of 5]

True crime fans, this is a must read!