In 1929, in a remote county of the Arkansas Ozarks, the gruesome
murder of harmonica-playing drifter Connie Franklin and the brutal
rape of his teenaged fiancee captured the attention of a nation on
the cusp of the Great Depression. National press from coast to
coast ran stories of the sensational exploits of night-riding
moonshiners, powerful "Barons of the Hills," and a world of feudal
oppression in the isolation of the rugged Ozarks. The ensuing
arrest of five local men for both crimes and the confusion and
superstition surrounding the trial and conviction gave Stone County
a dubious and short-lived notoriety. Closely examining how the
story and its regional setting were interpreted by the media,
Brooks Blevins recounts the gripping events of the murder
investigation and trial, where a man claiming to be the murder
victim--the "Ghost" of the Ozarks--appeared to testify. Local
conditions in Stone County, which had no electricity and only one
long-distance telephone line, frustrated the dozen or more
reporters who found their way to the rural Ozarks, and the
developments following the arrests often prompted reporters'
caricatures of the region: accusations of imposture and insanity,
revelations of hidden pasts and assumed names, and threats of
widespread violence. Locating the past squarely within the major
currents of American history, Ghost of the Ozarks: Murder and
Memory in the Upland South paints a convincing backdrop to a story
that, more than 80 years later, remains riddled with mystery.
General
Imprint: |
University of Illinois Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
2017 |
Authors: |
Brooks Blevins
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 156 x 28mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
304 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-252-08257-3 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
True stories >
Crime
Books >
Fiction >
Promotions
|
LSN: |
0-252-08257-5 |
Barcode: |
9780252082573 |
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