An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank

An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank was well written and a great read. I am a fan of true crime books and looked forward to reading this one, but I had happened upon this story many years ago and had already formed some opinions about the whole Mary Phagan murder. It is one thing to read about murders of women, but reading about the murder of a young thirteen year-old girl is heartbreaking. After reading Elaine Marie Alphin’s version, I immediately saw how difficult it is to keep unbiased until you have heard both sides. This book is extremely detailed and uses photos strategically throughout. Once I finished this book, I found myself searching the Internet for pictures and details about the actual murder and lynching of Frank. The graphics in this book are actual footage and can be quite disturbing. I encourage both high school students and teachers to read this book and talk about it. What a wonderful tool to use in class and to teach the evaluation of web sites. This book also lends itself to question how prejudice and anti-Semitism keeps the Leo Frank trial questionable after 98 years.