Bloodletters and Badmen: A Narrative Encyclopedia of American Criminals from the Pilgrims to the Present

I didn't receive this book...USPS has been contacted

I bought this book when it first came out in the hardback edition but it got misplaced, somehow so, I was pleased to see the up-dated version available in paper back and I ordered it. It is a fanatstic book, chuck full of information and pictures and very interesting to read. It's a great book for true crime enthusiasts. I recommend it.

I originally purchased this book some years back and refer to it frequently. It includes all the notable criminals, Jesse James, John Dillinger, more recent serial killers, etc. It is well-researched and Nash has the ability to make even the most mundane facts interesting.

Lately I've been reading about how inaccurate this book is, and that Nash is pretty much a "write what ya want" kind of author. The reason I give this book five stars is because of the influence it had on my interest in true crime books. This massive tome sat in the library of my high school, where it was frequently read by myself and my friends. We actually stole the book right before we graduated! Thank God the statute of limitations on that crime ran out years ago.The copy I have now is the revised 90's edition, and I can read through it with more of a critical eye then I once did. The best thing about the book is the photos. This book is a virtual cornucopia of great pics of criminals, crime scenes and the like. Some of the best pictures are of the Mafia, a particular strain of criminal that Nash has a lot of interest in, judging by the huge amount of entries devoted to that group.A reader will also notice how temporal the book is. Who has heard of Gretchen Baniszewski? Anyone who hasn't read this book would be in the dark about this sicko. Baniszewski might have been a big name when she committed her crimes, but readers now will scratch their heads trying to figure out why she is in this book. (Baniszewski, by the way, helped murder a young girl left in her charge). Other entries are pretty tabloidy, and don't really belong in an encyclopedia of crime, in my opinion.Some entries are absolutely fascinating, however. Alfred Packer is always worth a chuckle, and be sure and read about the Old Brewery in New York. You'll be dumbfounded that such a place ever existed in America, although it was New York, after all.I recommend the book for the photos and obscure cases. Be wary of the factual information, however.

RECEIVED MY VERY FIRST COPY IN 1974 WHILE IN JR HIGH SCHOOL AND I JUST CAN'T LET THIS MASTERPIECE GO. PICK UP THIS BOOK AND YOU WON'T PUT IT DOWN !

I'm not sure if Jay Robert Nash's various crime books are always the most accurate -- many of his mini-narratives seem to be distilled from various contemporary legends & newspaper accounts. But who cares? Nash has a rare talent for writing little tiny compelling crime tales. The biographies in this book are like M & M's; you sit down to gobble a few and end up going through the entire package.