The Murders That Made Us
How Vigilantes, Hoodlums, Mob Bosses, Serial Killers, and Cult Leaders Built the San Francisco Bay Area
by Bob Calhoun
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Pub Date 4 May 2021 | Archive Date 30 Apr 2021
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Description
In The Murders That Made Us, the story of the San Francisco Bay Area unfolds through its most violent and depraved acts. From its earliest days when vigilantes hung perps from downtown buildings to the Zodiac Killer and the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, murder and mayhem have shaped the city into the political and economic force that she is today.
The Great 1906 Earthquake shook a city that was already teetering on the brink of a massive prostitution scandal. The Summer of Love ended with a pair of ghastly drug dealer slayings that sent Charles Manson packing for Los Angeles. The 1970s come crashing down with the double tragedy of Jonestown and the assassination of Gay icon Harvey Milk by an ex-cop. And the 21st Century rise of California Governor Gavin Newsom, Trump insider Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Vice President Kamala Harris is told through a brutal dog-mauling case and the absurdity called Fajitagate. It’s a 170-year saga of madness, corruption, and death revealed here one crime at a time.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781770415492 |
| PRICE | US$19.95 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 493301
This is a well-written book about murderers and con men and how true crime is intertwined with the art, music, and political scenes in the history of San Francisco. The author's deadpan and tongue-in-cheek humor was a bonus that turned a dry historical overview into an enjoyable read. True crime buffs will enjoy this book.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own honest opinions written voluntarily.
Michael G, Reviewer
The Murders That Made Us by Bob Calhoun is a quirky little book. It tells the story of the San Francisco Bay area through the last 150 years or so through the crimes that took place there. At first glance, the idea seems more than a little absurd, but as you get in the book it does actually cover a fair amount of history from lynching and newspaper shootouts to Jim Jones and the Twinkie defense murder of Harvey Milk and others. All of this ends up wrapped in the unique culture of the day in San Francisco.
A book about some fairly grizzly murders and other crimes would seem to be very dark and brooding but somehow Calhoun manages to keep the tone fairly upbeat and the pace quick. This really helps the reader get lost within this very unique history. It’s really hard for me to ask anything more from The Murders That Made Us because it’s already a completely unexpected book in that one would not expect one to be able to do a history around such a macabre topic.
The Murders That Made Us is a fun twist on the history of a great American city.
Cat M, Bookseller
I read a lot of true crime titles and I found this brisk history of the San Francisco area, through the prism of crime, fresh and interesting. A good mix of the infamous and the more niche cases. Calhoun's book got me intrigued enough to seek out more information about the Jonestown massacre. Great for true crime buffs and history nerds.
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