Little Lindy Is Kidnapped

Reviews / Votes

Recommended as a top 5 true crime read for the month of November 2020. * CrimeReads * Little Lindy Is Kidnapped is a spellbinding rollercoaster of a read. It adds significantly to our understanding of how commercial media developed in the United States, exploring the roles of technological change, cultural imperatives, petty rivalries, coincidence, capitalism, and the things we most fear. -- Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, author of <i>Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio Comedy</i> Doherty locates, summarizes, and critiques an impressive array of long-forgotten and fascinating media. His writing style is fluid and almost conversational, making Little Lindy Is Kidnapped both rigorous scholarship and an enjoyable read. Doherty's book teaches us that 'ripped from the headlines' media and twenty-four hour broadcast news started a long time before Law and Order and CNN. -- Michael J. Socolow, author of <i>Six Minutes in Berlin: Broadcast Spectacle and Rowing Gold at the Nazi Olympics</i> Little Lindy Is Kidnapped takes the famous baby's abduction as a case study in the reach of journalism, radio, and newsreels in the mid-twentieth century. In genial, erudite prose, Doherty explains the mechanics of contemporary news production and dissemination and reveals how this heartbreaking affair reached the American public. In doing so, he highlights the work of beat reporters, pressmen, radio broadcasters, and newsreel cameramen that kept the country mesmerized by the police investigation and the trial that followed. Little Lindy Is Kidnapped is a gripping account of the story behind the story. -- Mikita Brottman, author of <i>An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere</i> Lindbergh kidnapping buffs, media scholars, and those interested in media history will be intrigued. * Library Journal * With scrupulous research and thrilling insight, Little Lindy Is Kidnapped reveals that the news coverage surrounding the kidnapping of Little Lindy is just as historically significant as the crime itself. * Los Angeles Review of Books * A well-researched and readable book that provides a good overview of how media covered and presented the kidnapping and the trial. * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books * Think there's nothing more to be said about the Lindbergh case? Think again, and read this book. * Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine * This book should command the attention of a variety of interested readers, particularly scholars of New Jersey history, media history, and the never dull Lindbergh saga. * New Jersey Studies * Informative and enjoyable. Doherty's book could fit nicely on a syllabus for a class in 20th century U.S. media history. * Journal of 20th Century Media History *