"Characters galore, both good guys and gangsters, leap from the pages" (The New York Times) in this irresistible, authentic look at 175 years of true crime cases from the NYPD archives, packed with photos, artifacts and expert revelations. From atrocities that occurred before the establishment of New York's police force in 1845 through the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 to the present day, this chronological visual history is an insider's look at more than 80 real-life crimes that shocked the nation, from arson to gangland murders, robberies, serial killers, bombings, and kidnappings, including: Architect Stanford White's fatal shooting at Madison Square Garden over his deflowering of a teenage chorus girl. The anarchist bombing of Wall Street in 1920, which killed 39 people and injured hundreds more with flying shrapnel. Kitty Genovese's 1964 senseless stabbing, famously witnessed by dozen of bystanders who did not intervene. Robert Chambers, the handsome, wealthy ex-Choate student, who murdered Jennifer Levin in Central Park, called "The Preppy Murder Case." Son of Sam, a serial killer who eluded police for months while terrorizing the city, was finally apprehended through a simple parking ticket. Perfect for crime buffs, urban historians, and fans of American Crime Story, this riveting collection details New York's most startling and unsettling crimes through behind-the-scenes analysis of investigations and more than 250 revealing photographs.

Terrorism, continuing unabated in the contemporary world, is having a serious impact on the lives of people and nations. Once, only govern ments and ruling classes possessed the power to coerce large segments of the world's peoples. Today, a handful of thugs, covered and concealed by a collection of terrorist organizations, are disturbing people every where by perpetrating dramatic criminal acts-bombings, kidnappings, assassinations, etc.-on an almost daily basis, in places specifically cho sen for their vulnerability: a railroad train, a pub, a beachfront apartment, a bus, a restaurant. Furthermore, a few of the world's most notorious terrorist groups are associated in a loose coalition, which has left around the earth a trail of violent crimes against humanity of the most heinous type. Among these outrages are random murder, including the killing of innocents, and barricade and hostage situations involving the elderly and young children. Many of the victims of these terrorists are randomly selected for the sole purpose of obtaining maximum shock action calculated to attract widespread exposure via the communications media. A dramatic example is the assassination of Lord Louis Mountbatten, one of the most distinguished soldier-statesmen of the century, by terrorists of the Pro visional Wing of the Irish Republican Army (LR.A.).

This fascinating book gathers reflections by scholars and activists who consider the impact of the Black Panther Party, the BBP, the most significant revolutionary organization in the later 20th century.

The gun-toting woman holds enormous symbolic significance in American culture. For over two centuries, women who pick up guns have disrupted the popular association of guns and masculinity, spurring debates about women's capabilities for violence as well as their capacity for full citizenship. In Her Best Shot, Laura Browder examines the relationship between women and guns and the ways in which the figure of the armed woman has served as a lightning rod for cultural issues. Utilizing autobiographies, advertising, journalism, novels, and political tracts, among other sources, Browder traces appearances of the armed woman across a chronological spectrum from the American Revolution to the present and an ideological spectrum ranging from the Black Panthers to right-wing militias. Among the colorful characters presented here are Deborah Sampson, who disguised herself as a man to fight in the American Revolution; Pauline Cushman, who posed as a Confederate to spy for Union forces during the Civil War; Wild West sure-shot Annie Oakley; African explorer Osa Johnson; 1930s gangsters Ma Barker and Bonnie Parker; and Patty Hearst, the hostage-turned-revolutionary-turned-victim. With her entertaining and provocative analysis, Browder demonstrates that armed women both challenge and reinforce the easy equation that links guns, manhood, and American identity.

Red, White & Black is a provocative critique of socially engaged films and related critical discourse. Offering an unflinching account of race and representation, Frank B. Wilderson III asks whether such films accurately represent the structure of U.S. racial antagonisms. That structure, he argues, is based on three essential subject positions: that of the White (the “settler,” “master,” and “human”), the Red (the “savage” and “half-human”), and the Black (the “slave” and “non-human”). Wilderson contends that for Blacks, slavery is ontological, an inseparable element of their being. From the beginning of the European slave trade until now, Blacks have had symbolic value as fungible flesh, as the non-human (or anti-human) against which Whites have defined themselves as human. Just as slavery is the existential basis of the Black subject position, genocide is essential to the ontology of the Indian. Both positions are foundational to the existence of (White) humanity. Wilderson provides detailed readings of two films by Black directors, Antwone Fisher (Denzel Washington) and Bush Mama (Haile Gerima); one by an Indian director, Skins (Chris Eyre); and one by a White director, Monster’s Ball (Marc Foster). These films present Red and Black people beleaguered by problems such as homelessness and the repercussions of incarceration. They portray social turmoil in terms of conflict, as problems that can be solved (at least theoretically, if not in the given narratives). Wilderson maintains that at the narrative level, they fail to recognize that the turmoil is based not in conflict, but in fundamentally irreconcilable racial antagonisms. Yet, as he explains, those antagonisms are unintentionally disclosed in the films’ non-narrative strategies, in decisions regarding matters such as lighting, camera angles, and sound.

In Fugitive Thought, Michael Hames-Garca argues that writings by prisoners are instances of practical social theory that seek to transform the world. Unlike other authors who have studied prisons or legal theory, Hames-Garca views prisoners as political and social thinkers whose ideas are as important as those of lawyers and philosophers.As key moral terms like "justice," "solidarity," and "freedom" have come under suspicion in the post-Civil Rights era, political discussions on the Left have reached an impasse. Fugitive Thought reexamines and reinvigorates these concepts through a fresh approach to philosophies of justice and freedom, combining the study of legal theory and of prison literature to show how the critiques and moral visions of dissidents and participants in prison movements can contribute to the shaping and realization of workable ethical conceptions. Fugitive Thought focuses on writings by black and Latina/o lawyers and prisoners to flesh out the philosophical underpinnings of ethical claims within legal theory and prison activism.Michael Hames-Garca is assistant professor of English and of philosophy, interpretation, and culture at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

“A deeply-researched and well-written account of” (Peter Bergen, author of United States of Jihad) M19—the first and only domestic terrorist group founded and led by women—as they waged a violent war against racism, sexism, and imperialism in Ronald Reagan’s America. 1981: Ronald Reagan declared that it is “morning in America” but a small band of well-educated women were planning to combat the status quo at any cost. Having spent their entire adult lives embroiled in political struggles—Vietnam War protests, Hispanic, Native American, and Black liberation, and more—these women had determined that it was time for a final stand. They might not be able to overthrow the government, but they could certainly disrupt it. Together, they formed the May 19th Communist Organization, or “M19,” a name derived from the birthday shared by Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh, two of their revolutionary idols. Together, these six women carried out some of the most shocking operations in the history of domestic terrorism—from prison breakouts and murderous armed robberies to a bombing campaign that wreaked havoc on the nation’s capital, its military installations, and New York City. For the first time, the full, fascinating, and terrifying story of M19 is explored by Cold War historian and counterterrorism expert William Rosenau in this “gripping account of this hitherto forgotten terrorist campaign” (Bruce Hoffman, author of Inside Terrorism). Three decades may have passed since these women fought what they saw as an essential battle for self-determination and dignity, but we’re still struggling to decipher which side of history their actions fall on and what we should learn from their motivations.

Vincent Cannato takes us back to the time when John Lindsay stunned New York with his liberal Republican agenda, WASP sensibility, and movie-star good looks. With peerless authority, Cannato explores how Lindsay Liberalism failed to save New York, and, in the opinion of many, left it worse off than it was in the mid-1960's.