i_platypus's review against another edition
2.0
Really, this should be 2.5 stars. The subject is fascinating, but this book needed more structure -- it often read like 100+ Wikipedia articles strung together. [And a single chapter should not take 3 hours to read]. Although I appreciate detail, too much of a good thing left me unable to process most of what was shared. Good reference book, but not one I'd advise friends/family to read cover to cover.
thechancollection's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.5
This book has been living on my shelf for about 5 years and I finally read it.
I was boredddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd.
I was hoping for more discussion on the detectives and processes developed in dealing with crime, but all it was was too many paragraphs about plays and broadsides featuring murders.
I was disappointed.
I was boredddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd.
I was hoping for more discussion on the detectives and processes developed in dealing with crime, but all it was was too many paragraphs about plays and broadsides featuring murders.
I was disappointed.
jmbreslin's review against another edition
3.0
Although it did have some great and interesting information, I felt the layout was a little off which didn't make it such an easy read.
mokey81's review against another edition
2.0
I don't know...this book seemed right up my alley. I think I was expecting more variety. This was essentially a (detailed) police blotter of murders in Victorian England. So, it got a little tedious. I am super impressed by all the extensive research Flanders had to do in regards to crime, newspapers, theater, and fiction writing. I did learn a few interesting tidbits. But overall...it felt incredibly repetitive. And I feel like subtitling this about creating modern crime was barely touched on. The extreme majority of each chapter was a retelling of many murders and how they were received by the public. And then there would be just a tiny tidbit about the impact these crimes had on crime over all. I would have been much more interested to learn more about that. To say I skimmed the end of the book is probably an overstatement. I barely glanced at the pages and I moved looking to see if there would be some type of culmination - there wasn't. I'd pass on this one.
ultimatecryptid's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.75
Short version:
Keeping in mind this is not a subject I have extreme interest in, I found this book fairly enjoyable—although at times dense and unorginized.
Long Version:
Flanders explains the history of the police force and their transition from punitive to 'preventative' measures, and describes that their focus of criminality has always been on the poor and working-class, and rarely searched, accused, or punished those of middle-class or higher.
The repetitive nature of the crimes and their reportings (both the contemporary newspaper quotations and Flanders' own summarization) did hammer hone the procedural nature of 'justice', which became almost story-like in court. However, that same repetition, with a lack of organization on Flanders part, made it difficult to tell when one tale ended and another began, and gave the book an almost drone-like quality.
The overlaps between "real" reporting, melodrama, sensation- and detective-novels are notable and interesting, and the understanding that both real crimes were used as a kind of advertising for the mediums above is well-documented.
The best parts, in my opinions, are where Flanders brings to light the many, many ways people have exchanged stories of murder in truth and fiction to the same effect: as spectacle for those uninvolved.
Keeping in mind this is not a subject I have extreme interest in, I found this book fairly enjoyable—although at times dense and unorginized.
Long Version:
Flanders explains the history of the police force and their transition from punitive to 'preventative' measures, and describes that their focus of criminality has always been on the poor and working-class, and rarely searched, accused, or punished those of middle-class or higher.
The repetitive nature of the crimes and their reportings (both the contemporary newspaper quotations and Flanders' own summarization) did hammer hone the procedural nature of 'justice', which became almost story-like in court. However, that same repetition, with a lack of organization on Flanders part, made it difficult to tell when one tale ended and another began, and gave the book an almost drone-like quality.
The overlaps between "real" reporting, melodrama, sensation- and detective-novels are notable and interesting, and the understanding that both real crimes were used as a kind of advertising for the mediums above is well-documented.
The best parts, in my opinions, are where Flanders brings to light the many, many ways people have exchanged stories of murder in truth and fiction to the same effect: as spectacle for those uninvolved.