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For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago | 
| Author: Simon Baatz
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy Used: $13.86
You Save: $14.09 (50%)
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 30174
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 560
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.5
ISBN: 0060781009
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1523092
EAN: 9780060781002
ASIN: 0060781009
Publication Date: August 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
It was a crime that shocked the nation, a brutal murder in Chicago in 1924 of a child, by two wealthy college students who killed solely for the thrill of the experience. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb had first met several years earlier, and their friendship had blossomed into a love affair. Both were intellectuals—too smart, they believed, for the police to catch them. However, the police had recovered an important clue at the scene of the crime—a pair of eyeglasses—and soon both Leopold and Loeb were in the custody of Cook County. They confessed, and Robert Crowe, the state's attorney, announced to newspaper reporters that he had a hanging case. No defense, he believed, would save the two ruthless killers from the gallows. Set against the backdrop of the 1920s, a time of prosperity, self-indulgence, and hedonistic excess, For the Thrill of It draws the reader into a lost world, a world of speakeasies and flappers, of gangsters and gin parties, that existed when Chicago was a lawless city on the brink of anarchy. The rejection of morality, the worship of youth, and the obsession with sex had seemingly found their expression in this callous murder. But the murder is only half the story. After Leopold and Loeb were arrested, their families hired Clarence Darrow to defend their sons. Darrow, the most famous lawyer in America, aimed to save Leopold and Loeb from the death penalty by showing that the crime was the inevitable consequence of sexual and psychological abuse that each defendant had suffered during childhood at the hands of adults. Both boys, Darrow claimed, had experienced a compulsion to kill, and therefore, he appealed to the judge, they should be spared capital punishment. However, Darrow faced a worthy adversary in his prosecuting attorney: Robert Crowe was clever, cunning, and charismatic, with ambitions of becoming Chicago's next mayor—and he was determined to send Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb to their deaths. A masterful storyteller, Simon Baatz has written a gripping account of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case. Using court records and recently discovered transcripts, Baatz shows how the pathological relationship between Leopold and Loeb inexorably led to their crime. This thrilling narrative of murder and mystery in the Jazz Age will keep the reader in a continual state of suspense as the story twists and turns its way to an unexpected conclusion.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 A tale of two indulged, hedonistic boys December 19, 2008
L. Jonsson (Charleston, SC United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When I discovered this book, I was very excited. I have never read a comprehensive book on the Leopold and Loeb case before; I've only seen it mentioned in other books on true crime. And previously, I have only seen one to two paragraphs in these other books devoted to this case, which was a shocking crime in Chicago in 1924.
Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold both came from priviledged, indulgent backgrounds, and when they met in private school, they became friends. Loeb was the gregarious one of the duo who was fascinated by crime, and approached Leopold about commiting the perfect murder/kidnapping. The kidnapping/murder is accomplished. The body of the victim is discovered before Loeb and Leopold reap the financial benefits of their murder as intended. Leopold leaves behind at the crime scene a pair of eyeglasses
that ultimately lead to his and Loeb's capture. The current DA of Chicago, Robert Crowe, states publically that he intends to pursue the death penalty in this case.
The author Simon Baatz points out that the murder of Bobby Franks is only some of what lead the public in Chicago in the 1920s to be so fascinated by this case. The other part that is so interesting is in the defense of the assailants. The Loeb and Leopold families hire Clarence DArrow, arguably the most influencial attorney of the day, to defend their sons and to possibly save their lives from a certain death sentence. Mr. DArrow's defense of Loeb and Leopold-I won't give away this part of the book because it is a key element-seals Darrow's reputation as a leading defense attorney. Loeb and Leopold's defense, and their lives after the trial, are also painstakingly detailed in this book.
The events leading up to the murder, and the aftermath are rivetingly written about in this book. Also, the murder is discussed in an intellectual way that compares the ramifications of the murder in comparison to the backdrop of theprosperous roaring twenties in America. Mr. Baatz writing style is easy to read and there is never a dull moment in his description of this historical event.
 Why Was This Crime Committed? The Answer Is In the Title of the Book December 16, 2008
C. W. Emblom (Ishpeming, Michigan USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've read Evil Summer by John Theodore and found it to be a gripping true crime book. I also found For The Thrill of It by Simon Baatz to be a compelling book on the senseless murder of Bobby Franks by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb on May 21, 1924. For The Thrill of It is a more detailed account, but I did find the courtroom drama between the state and prosecution to be somewhat tedious. Each side presented authorities on psychiatry to support their point of view, and it turned out that neither side influenced the judge. Both Leopold and Loeb needed the other to carry out their dastardly crime. Throughout the book the question comes up as to why these two teenagers threw away their futures. The answer can be found in the title of the book, For The Thrill of It. Neither Leopold nor Loeb committed the crime expecting to get caught. This was to be the perfect crime. They wanted to be equally guilty by each pulling on an end of a rope in killing their victim. They deviated from their plan at the outset by Richard Loeb swinging the blows with a chisel on the head of their victim Bobby Franks. Unbelievably Franks was a second cousin of his murderer Richard Loeb, and had played tennis together the day before. I especially liked the author's choice of placing photos in the book at their appropriate location in the story. I found the map of the Kenwood area of Chicago showing where Franks, Leopold, and Loeb lived, along with the nearby Harvard School for Boys which their victim attended, to be very helpful. My only drawback to the book is the dragged out courtroom question regarding insanity and mental disease. However, this is a very worthwhile addition to your crime library.
Leopold and Loeb: "Crime and Punishment" December 12, 2008
Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Baatz, Simon. "For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder that Shocked Chicago", Harper, 2008.
Leopold and Loeb: "Crime and Punishment"
Amos Lassen
I have always been fascinated by the Leopold and Loeb affair and it is without a doubt one of the most shocking crimes in the history of America. From the moment I read Meyer Levin's "Compulsion", I have been compelled to read whatever I can about the entire business. Simon Baatz, professor of law and history takes a look at how the crime affected not only those who perpetrated it but America in his new book, "For the Thrill of It" and it is on my best books list.
Most of us have trouble understanding how two young and wealthy men can still live in the memory of this country for murdering a young boy in 1924 just "for the thrill of it. It seems that they went far beyond the conventions of good and evil and it has been suggested that the crime was better psychologically explained--an attempt to cover up feelings of rage and inadequacy, cultural boredom and sexual passion. What Leopold and Loeb claimed was their motive was only an iota of what the reasons were.
Baatz spends time looking at the psychological and psychiatric testimony of three witnesses--Bernard Gleuck, William White and William Healy who, like the attorney for the defense, Clarence Darrow, felt that criminal law depended upon psychology and that criminals who were victims of some kind of social disorder should be treated and not punished. Even though Darrow offered a guilty plea it was his hope that the sentence might be lessened by proving to the jury and judge that the crime was committed while Leopold and Loeb were insane. We know that this strategy failed and that the two were given 99 years. Loeb was killed in prison and Leopold was eventually paroled and died as an expatriate in Puerto Rico.
Baatz gives us the history of the crime and takes us into the courtroom where he has a good look at the plea of insanity. I was totally into the narrative and the book is a fascinating look at human behavior and the criminal process. The research is excellent and the book is extremely readable. Baatz can tell a story and bring the reader in. The crime is imbedded in our imaginations and the fact that the plea of insanity is something we still talk about. It is good to have this record of the crime, the trial and what happened later. Baatz does not explain why anything happened but he does give us great detail about what happened. The book is something like what Truman Capote did with "In Cold Blood" and that is to create a non-fiction novel.
I have read several negative reviews of the book and I think that perhaps this is not the kind of book that appeals to those reviewers and I disagree with their evaluations. Of course I am somewhat biased as I have read everything I could about Leopold and Loeb. The crime they committed was so out of character for Jewish gay men to take part in but they did.
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