Extending beyond the traditionally infamous gangsters, juvenile delinquents, and serial killers, Wolcott and Head's thoughtful and thorough analysis brings gender, race, and political issues into focus as well. It attends to women criminals (Lizzie Borden) and activists (Ida B. Wells) and issues such as domestic abuse and abortion-clinic bombing. There is a strong emphasis on the treatment of African Americans by the justice system, linking societal and justice issues to conditions established under slavery-a relationship that is traced from the abolition movement and the Underground Railroad up to the Rodney King beating and the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Each chapter presents a 10- to 12-page chronological analysis of an era, followed by a year by year time line and a fascinating three- to seven-page compendium of primary-source quotations and narratives. The four appendixes include 25 pages of excerpts from important documents, 33 pages of capsule biographies, and sections of maps, graphs, and tables. -School Library Journal.

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