Overview
The Snatch Racket uncovers the massive wave of kidnapping that shook the nation's communities. An estimated three thousand Americans were kidnapped for ransom in the year 1931. They were early victims of a kidnapping wave that grew to be an epidemic in the twilight days of Prohibition as urban gangs looked for new revenue streams to replace the once lucrative business of bootlegging. Wealthy families and celebrities began purchasing kidnap insurance, hiring armed chauffeurs and bodyguards, and carrying loaded handguns. Some sent their children to school or summer camp in Europe to get them out of harm's way. Guards kept kidnap watch over both President Hoover and President Roosevelt's grandchildren. The ""Kidnapped,"" as the racketeers referred to it, reached its peak in 1933 and 1934: ""Recent Kidnappings in America"" was a regular feature in the New York Times, and Time magazine included kidnappings along with its weekly list of notable births, deaths, and other milestones. The Snatch Racket is the frightening story of this crime epidemic and the three-year War against Kidnappers waged by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration to eradicate it. At the heart of the narrative are some of the most iconic names of the twentieth century: Rockefeller, Ford, Lindbergh, Roosevelt, Hoover, Capone, Schwarzkopf, and Babe Ruth. All were caught up in some way in the kidnap frenzy - as victims and intended victims, as law enforcement officials and political leaders, or as individuals attempting to alleviate suffering or to benefit personally somehow from the scourge that took such a toll on the country. The War against Kidnappers also revolutionised and modernized law enforcement in the United States, dramatically expanding the powers of the federal government in the fight against not only kidnapping but many new types of interstate crime. It would make J. Edgar Hoover the face of law enforcement in America, a role he would play for another three decades. Not least, the crime of kidnapping would be recognised as a devastating form of domestic terrorism against which the public would come to expect special protection from government, making the War against Kidnappers the first of the declared wars on terrorism that continue today. AUTHOR: Carolyn Cox is a retired partner of the law firm of WilmerHale, Washington DC; a former law clerk to Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr., U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama; and former adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and American University Law School.
Full Product Details
Author: Carolyn Cox
Publisher: Potomac Books Inc
Imprint: Potomac Books Inc
ISBN: 9781640122031
ISBN 10: 1640122036
Pages: 376
Publication Date: 01 March 2021
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
Carolyn Cox throws a fascinating new light on a horrifying crime wave that shook America in the 1930s. While the shocking Lindbergh case has understandably gone down in history, it was just one of a whole series of horrible kidnappings that have until now passed into obscurity. In telling this extraordinary story, Cox combines meticulous scholarly research with the thriller writer's fast pace and eye for colorful detail. The result is a terrific read. --Sandra Hempel, author of The Atlas of Disease and The Inheritor's Powder --Sandra Hempel Every crisis creates opportunity for people smart enough to see it and agile enough to grasp it. In this finely wrought narrative Carolyn Cox shows us how J. Edgar Hoover and his nascent Bureau of Investigation launched a war against kidnapping that pit them against both rival bureaucrats and a parade of colorful gangsters from Machine Gun Kelly to Alvin Karpis to Ma Barker and the rest. The struggle captured public imagination at the time and makes for a great read. This is an important story well told. --Kenneth D. Ackerman, author of Young J. Edgar: Hoover and the Red Scare, 1919-1920--Kenneth D. Ackerman
[Cox's] accounts of the kidnappings make for good true-crime readings. --Harry Levins, St. Louis Post-Dispatch-- (4/9/2021 12:00:00 AM) Crisp, zesty and free of the cliches of most true-crime writing, Ms. Cox's book interweaves her case narratives with the inside story of how Hoover exploited the crisis to launch a 'crusade' against organized crime, even coining the term 'G-men' to glamorize his agents. --Edward Kosner, Wall Street Journal-- (2/25/2021 12:00:00 AM) Carolyn Cox throws a fascinating new light on a horrifying crime wave that shook America in the 1930s. While the shocking Lindbergh case has understandably gone down in history, it was just one of a whole series of horrible kidnappings that have until now passed into obscurity. In telling this extraordinary story, Cox combines meticulous scholarly research with the thriller writer's fast pace and eye for colorful detail. The result is a terrific read. --Sandra Hempel, author of The Atlas of Disease and The Inheritor's Powder Every crisis creates opportunity for people smart enough to see it and agile enough to grasp it. In this finely wrought narrative Carolyn Cox shows us how J. Edgar Hoover and his nascent Bureau of Investigation launched a war against kidnapping that pit them against both rival bureaucrats and a parade of colorful gangsters from Machine Gun Kelly to Alvin Karpis to Ma Barker and the rest. The struggle captured public imagination at the time and makes for a great read. This is an important story well told. --Kenneth D. Ackerman, author of Young J. Edgar: Hoover and the Red Scare, 1919-1920 Simply fascinating. A richly detailed, behind-the-scenes autopsy of how the FBI and rival law enforcement agencies demolished the Barker-Karpis gang and other criminals who perpetrated the shocking wave of kidnappings (including the tragic abduction of the Lindbergh baby) that so outraged America in the early 1930s. Best of all, author Carolyn Cox reveals how the war between the G-men and gangsters changed the course of federal criminal law, the power of J. Edgar Hoover, and how the public viewed the Public Enemies-era gangsters like Machine Gun Kelly, Alvin 'Creepy' Karpis, and John Dillinger. --Paul Maccabee, author of John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks' Tour of Crime and Corruption
Carolyn Cox throws a fascinating new light on a horrifying crime wave that shook America in the 1930s. While the shocking Lindbergh case has understandably gone down in history, it was just one of a whole series of horrible kidnappings that have until now passed into obscurity. In telling this extraordinary story, Cox combines meticulous scholarly research with the thriller writer's fast pace and eye for colorful detail. The result is a terrific read. --Sandra Hempel, author of The Atlas of Disease and The Inheritor's Powder --Sandra Hempel Every crisis creates opportunity for people smart enough to see it and agile enough to grasp it. In this finely wrought narrative Carolyn Cox shows us how J. Edgar Hoover and his nascent Bureau of Investigation launched a war against kidnapping that pit them against both rival bureaucrats and a parade of colorful gangsters from Machine Gun Kelly to Alvin Karpis to Ma Barker and the rest. The struggle captured public imagination at the time and makes for a great read. This is an important story well told. --Kenneth D. Ackerman, author of Young J. Edgar: Hoover and the Red Scare, 1919-1920--Kenneth D. Ackerman Simply fascinating. A richly detailed, behind-the-scenes autopsy of how the FBI and rival law enforcement agencies demolished the Barker-Karpis gang and other criminals who perpetrated the shocking wave of kidnappings (including the tragic abduction of the Lindbergh baby) that so outraged America in the early 1930s. Best of all, author Carolyn Cox reveals how the war between the G-men and gangsters changed the course of federal criminal law, the power of J. Edgar Hoover, and how the public viewed the Public Enemies-era gangsters like Machine Gun Kelly, Alvin 'Creepy' Karpis, and John Dillinger. --Paul Maccabee, author of John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks' Tour of Crime and Corruption --Paul Maccabee
Carolyn Cox throws a fascinating new light on a horrifying crime wave that shook America in the 1930s. While the shocking Lindbergh case has understandably gone down in history, it was just one of a whole series of horrible kidnappings that have until now passed into obscurity. In telling this extraordinary story, Cox combines meticulous scholarly research with the thriller writer's fast pace and eye for colorful detail. The result is a terrific read. --Sandra Hempel, author of The Atlas of Disease and The Inheritor's Powder --Sandra Hempel
Author Information
Carolyn Cox is a retired partner of the law firm WilmerHale in Washington, DC, and a former adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and American University Law School.
