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Shadow Men: The Tangled Story of Murder, Media, and Privilege That Scandalized Jazz Age America
From Edgar Award finalist James Polchin comes a thrilling examination of the murder that captivated Jazz Age America, with echoes of the decadence and violence of The Great Gatsby
On the morning of May 16, 1922, a young man’s body was found on a desolate road in Westchester County. The victim was penniless ex-sailor Clarence Peters. Walter Ward, the handsome scion of the family that owned the largest chain of bread factories in the country, confessed to the crime as an act of self-defense against a violent gang of “shadow men,” blackmailers who extorted their victims’ moral weaknesses. From the start, one question defined the What scandalous secret could lead Ward to murder?
For sixteen months, the media fueled a firestorm of speculation. Unscrupulous criminal attorneys, fame-seeking chorus girls, con artists, and misogynistic millionaires harnessed the power of the press to shape public perception. New York governor and future presidential candidate Al Smith and editor of the Daily News Joseph Medill Patterson leveraged the investigation to further professional ambitions. Famous figures like Harry Houdini, Arthur Conan Doyle, and F. Scott Fitzgerald weighed in. As the bereaved working-class Peters family sought to bring the callous Ward to justice, America watched enraptured.
Capturing the extraordinary twists and turns of the case, Shadow Men conjures the excess and contradictions of the Jazz Age and reveals the true-crime origins of the media-led voyeurism that reverberates through contemporary life. It’s a story of privilege and power that lays bare the social inequity that continues to influence our system of justice.
On the morning of May 16, 1922, a young man’s body was found on a desolate road in Westchester County. The victim was penniless ex-sailor Clarence Peters. Walter Ward, the handsome scion of the family that owned the largest chain of bread factories in the country, confessed to the crime as an act of self-defense against a violent gang of “shadow men,” blackmailers who extorted their victims’ moral weaknesses. From the start, one question defined the What scandalous secret could lead Ward to murder?
For sixteen months, the media fueled a firestorm of speculation. Unscrupulous criminal attorneys, fame-seeking chorus girls, con artists, and misogynistic millionaires harnessed the power of the press to shape public perception. New York governor and future presidential candidate Al Smith and editor of the Daily News Joseph Medill Patterson leveraged the investigation to further professional ambitions. Famous figures like Harry Houdini, Arthur Conan Doyle, and F. Scott Fitzgerald weighed in. As the bereaved working-class Peters family sought to bring the callous Ward to justice, America watched enraptured.
Capturing the extraordinary twists and turns of the case, Shadow Men conjures the excess and contradictions of the Jazz Age and reveals the true-crime origins of the media-led voyeurism that reverberates through contemporary life. It’s a story of privilege and power that lays bare the social inequity that continues to influence our system of justice.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published June 11, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 9, 2024
Sometimes life is messy. Good thing - it makes better books that way.
Meticulously researched and thrillingly told, this is a book that wrestles with a lurid but cold case from the 1920s.
A few editing errors, but easily overlooked in this compelling read.
Meticulously researched and thrillingly told, this is a book that wrestles with a lurid but cold case from the 1920s.
A few editing errors, but easily overlooked in this compelling read.
July 21, 2024
You know, this is the most puzzling true crime book I've ever read. Yes, a crime, murder, was committed. And, yes, a wealthy man stepped forward, confessed to squeezing the trigger that took the life of a young man, from an impoverished working class background. And that is the only discernible correction between the victim and the alleged perpetrator?
While the who, what, perhaps even the where, and why of young, and possibly simpleminded, Clarence Peters's murder will forever remain a mystery, the underlying theme of this book is of wealth versus poverty. Suffice it to say, and perhaps this is a spoiler, the rich and politically connected can literally get away with murder. Of course things are a little different now than 1920's New York, however, in today's political climate we may see a return of that ethos?
While the who, what, perhaps even the where, and why of young, and possibly simpleminded, Clarence Peters's murder will forever remain a mystery, the underlying theme of this book is of wealth versus poverty. Suffice it to say, and perhaps this is a spoiler, the rich and politically connected can literally get away with murder. Of course things are a little different now than 1920's New York, however, in today's political climate we may see a return of that ethos?
July 10, 2024
A fascinating story, a well researched historical true crime that is still full of mysteries.
A rich boy, a poor victims, blackmail, suspects.
Loved it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
A rich boy, a poor victims, blackmail, suspects.
Loved it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews