From New Yorker staff writer and bestselling author of The Nine and The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson; the definitive account of the kidnapping and trial that defined an insane era in American history On February 4; 1974; Patty Hearst; a sophomore in college and heiress to the Hearst family fortune; was kidnapped by a ragtag group of self-styled revolutionaries calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army. The already sensational story took the first of many incredible twists on April 3; when the group released a tape of Patty saying she had joined the SLA and had adopted the nom de guerre “Tania.â€The weird turns of the tale are truly astonishing—the Hearst family trying to secure Patty’s release by feeding all the people of Oakland and San Francisco for free; the bank security cameras capturing “Tania†wielding a machine gun during a robbery; a cast of characters including everyone from Bill Walton to the Black Panthers to Ronald Reagan to F. Lee Bailey; the largest police shoot-out in American history; the first breaking news event to be broadcast live on television stations across the country; Patty’s year on the lam; running from authorities; and her circuslike trial; filled with theatrical courtroom confrontations and a dramatic last-minute reversal; after which the term “Stockholm syndrome†entered the lexicon. The saga of Patty Hearst highlighted a decade in which America seemed to be suffering a collective nervous breakdown. Based on more than a hundred interviews and thousands of previously secret documents; American Heiress thrillingly recounts the craziness of the times (there were an average of 1;500 terrorist bombings a year in the early 1970s). Toobin portrays the lunacy of the half-baked radicals of the SLA and the toxic mix of sex; politics; and violence that swept up Patty Hearst and re-creates her melodramatic trial. American Heiress examines the life of a young woman who suffered an unimaginable trauma and then made the stunning decision to join her captors’ crusade. Or did she?
#701961 in Books 2006-10-24 2006-10-24Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.30 x 6.52 x 9.22l; 1.63 #File Name: 0385495552368 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. 'Hinges of History' series is a must have series for the history buff's home library.By RowanThomas Cahill does history superbly. His 'Hinges of History' series is a must have series for the history buff's home library. I bought 'Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism; Science; and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe (Hinges of History' from Chestnut Hill Books on . Very pleased with the book and the service.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. What's up with the Jesuits vs Dominicans?By Mike McMahonAnother excellent book by Thomas Cahill. It traces how religion influences art; particularly during the Middle Ages; and also how that art reflected society during the period. However; as usual Thomas Cahill allows his bias towards one sect of Catholicism over another get in the way. This is why I decline to give it 5 stars for this otherwise excellent study.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Not the best of CahillBy Thomas E. RuddickI've resolved to listen to all of Cahill's "Hinges of History" series after being enormously impressed by his combination of historical detail and literary insight as demonstrated in "Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea" (about the Golden Age of Athens) and "How the Irish Saved Civilization" (primarily about St. Patrick and how his monasteries preserved much of the literature of classical antiquity). Alas that this volume doesn't approach those levels. It's entertaining if you like hearing detailed history read by a good British interpreter; but his main thesis--that the high middle ages provided Europe with the inspiration for feminism; liberty; equality; and reason--just doesn't live up to standards of critical thinking. His evidence is the anecdotal exception rather than the bloody; filthy; ignorant rule of the time--and the bloody; filthy and ignorant does come through despite his focus on the niceties. An additional irritant; the written text contains literary passages in Latin or Italian; which the narrator reads first in the original and then in the English translation; as the original paper text carried it. This turns into a disaster; as those who know little Latin and less Italian must listen to many minutes of unintelligible romance language before hearing the quote in a comprehensible language; while anyone who does understand the Latin or Italian won't need the subsequent English version. Sorry that this historian has descended so far that he doesn't reign in his own bias despite excoriating other historians for theirs.Summary: entertaining and enlightening for its details; but far from the best history I've listened to this year.
