My submission for Chris's crowdsourced nonfiction history reading list, part 2. These are the more recent history (back half of 20^th century) and one general world history book.

 

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders (Vietnam Era)

The original account of Charles Manson and the Manson Family, written by the attorney who prosecuted the cases. I’m uncertain if this should be considered “true crime” rather than “historical crime”, as this book was written only a few years after the trials, rather than from a historian’s perspective.

 

Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson (Vietnam Era)

A more historical account of Manson and Family, very detailed and graphic, with some perspective on the sociopolitical climate of the time. The audio format works well here.

 

The Man With The Candy: The Story of The Houston Mass Murders (Vietnam Era)

It’s pretty amazing that 28 teenagers could disappear within a few square miles with zero interest from local law enforcement, or even the general public. Similar to Helter Skelter, this was written very shortly after the actual events, so it may be a better fit under “true crime” than “historical crime”. I’d like to read a well-researched account from a more historical perspective.

 

The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple (Vietnam Era)

A thorough examination of the evolution of The Peoples Temple from its socialist ideals and Christian roots to a cult willing and able to commit the 1978 atrocity of mass suicide and murder of over 900 men, women, and children. My review here.

 

Harry Potter: A History of Magic (General World History)

This is the companion book to the British Library exhibition of the same name, examining historical artefacts with a connection to magic, using the Potter books for context. Truly a lot of fun.

 

What can I say? Vincent Bugliosi isn't just an amazing attorney but an amazing author as well. I've already read And the Sea Will Tell and loved it. It was so detailed, so thorough, and yet written in a voice that kept it from being stultifying or dry. Because of that experience I found myself awfully excited to get in to this one and I was not disappointed.

I am an encyclopedia of serial murder and yet this book showed me how little I actually knew about Manson, his Family, and the murders they carried out. I knew of course that a group of his murdered the Tate group and the LaBiancas, but the murder of Gary Hinman, Shorty Shea, and potentially others had eluded me before this. Linda Kasabian's involvement and her testimony shocked me. What a brave girl she was. The idea behind the Helter Skelter motive struck many as crazy as first, but the way Vincent put it together made it so clear.

I also enjoyed the description of the trials; so many antics, personalities, wild claims. Reading about defense attorney Irving Kanarek's unique way of dealing with the proceedings (essentially being as obstructionist as possible, earning him several sanctions) alone would be entertaining enough for me to recommend this book.

Ultimately the horror visited upon the victims was so much worse than I thought, and it made me hate how Manson has become almost an anti-establishment symbol to some. He was nothing of the kind. He was a serial murderer, an abuser, a virulent racist and misogynist that should be remembered for being what he is, a jumped up little psychopath who has only a kind of animal cunning at his disposal. He was not a visionary, nor did he have some strange ability to hypnotize most people. When challenged, he would shake in his shoes. He chose people he knew he could easily mold, getting them involved in drugs early on. Many of his followers were very young girls (Leslie Van Houten was only 19 at the time of trial, if I recall).

And that is what struck me throughout: the huge thread of misogyny tying it all together. Many of those girls came to Charlie because they wanted more than what their middle class upbringings had taught them to accept. Those upbringings were often talked about in glowing terms but really, it's clear they were oppressive. The nicest thing Pat Krenwinkel's father could say about her was that she was "obedient." The true tragedy on the part of these followers (other than the murders, obviously) is that they merely traded one misogynistic experience for another. At trial, Manson told Vincent that Sadie/Susan, one of his most devoted followers and killers, was "a stupid bitch" and "after she had the kid and lost her figure I didn't care about her anymore." Vincent summed it up nicely, saying that while the girls would murder and even die for him, he cared for them not at all.

An interesting read into the Manson Family. The guy was a sociopath, but really had the charisma.

The book looks really long in electronic format, but don't be discouraged; the last 40% are footnotes and indexes.

4 Stars.

Goodreads First Reads winner.

Overall, this was a very well done book. I’m normally not a non-fiction reader, but really thought I might like this since I like reading about Serial Killers. The book was well researched, and had a huge notes section at the end of the book. The only chapters I didn’t like were the investigation and trial chapters. Those were really tedious and should have been made smaller.

Now for the Spoilers.

I didn’t know that Manson had known one of the Beach Boys, or that Manson had half wrote one of their B side songs. Candace Bergen’s name show’s up a lot. I am curious why the author had to mention Cass Elliots weight. Everyone knows she was overweight, there was no reason for it. It was rude and snarky. The author is obviously a raging republican and hates hippies. At one point he even states “ For a change, a portion of a major American city was being torn apart by whites, not blacks.” Seriously dude???

Over all it’s a very good book and I’d recommend it if you are into reading about Serial Killers.

A fascinating, chilling portrait of the infamous opportunistic sociopath, and an insightful, revealing history of the culture and times in which he lived. Definitive and riveting.