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TRAGEDY IN DEDHAM

Name: TRAGEDY IN DEDHAM
Author: Francis Russell
ISBN: 978-0-07-054342-3

THE STORY OF THE SACCO-VANZETTI CASE

by Francis Russell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 6, 1962

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Incredibly—after all that has been said—the Sacco and Vanzetti case comes up in a major and moving work. This is probably the best, certainly the most painstaking and panoramic book yet written about America’s tortuous cause celebre. Francis Russell has produced a remarkable reconstruction, full of conflicting personalities and particulars set against a social background of irreconcilable positions, heartfelt passions. Vanzetti, a fishpeddler who read Darwin and Marx, Dante and Renan, and Sacco, a piece worker with wife and children, were both members of a New England anarchist group, and both were Italian immigrants “nameless, in a crowd of nameless ones.” Accused of murdering a South Braintree paymaster and his guard, their subsequent trial, extending over seven years, influenced the spirit of the twenties from Massachusetts to Europe and ignited a courtroom drama unlike anything seen before (a browbeating district attorney, a self-sacrificing lawyer, a rasping judge, the Madeiros’ “confession,” demonstrations, bombings and bombast), only to end in the electric chair for the defendants. It also had its share of double-edged ironies: at a time when anarchists were being secretly liquidated in the Soviet, the Communist International was calling for propagandistic party-line support of the two “martyrs,” and, on the other hand, old Yankee fear of radicalism and revolution was openly prejudicing the jury, thus Sacco and Vanzetti became pawns in the “class struggles” of both sides. As to the author’s verdict: Vanzetti was innocent, Sacco guilty; of this recent ballistic tests leave small doubt. A stunning study.

Pub Date: Aug. 6, 1962

ISBN: 978-0-07-054342-3

Page Count: 480

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: April 16, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1962

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.