Roger Lane

The thing I've always liked about history is the stories. No matter how broad or narrowly focussed, the stories drag me in. There's a lot of statistical facts in Murder in America (blah blah blah) and a lot of extrapolating and what not. But what fascinated me were the cyclical trends and the anecdotal evidence used to back up Lane's speculation.

One of the trends I found really interesting is that as people become more educated, the murder rate goes down and the suicide rate goes up. Another is that it's really difficult to get a grip on the numbers because murders are often miscategorized depending upon the victim and, more to the point, his family and colleagues. Infanticide is still a big issue, with many deaths going unreported.

Lane's book is more of a meta-overview of the numerous books already available on the history of murder in the US. And, he sticks to the East Coast, particularly Philadelphia, pretty closely. I would have liked to read a more geographically inclusive study. This is not to say that the Southwest, the Plain states and the West were completely left out, but the stories for those parts of the country were pretty sparse.

Murder in America bolsters other arguments that murder is nearly always a male crime regardless of race or class. I found this an interesting, if occasionally dry, read.… (más)