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theduchess93's review against another edition
5.0
Collins did a remarkable job of taking what might have been a fairly small, uninteresting case and turning it into a fascinating narrative that explores classism in mid-19th-century New England and the state of higher education.
cynthiatainsh's review against another edition
5.0
So interesting to read
This was both a great entertaining story and a really informative and fun to read description of both Boston and the early years of Harvard Medical School in the 1800s. A small circle of prominent professors that we are all familiar with are part of the story, and we get little glimpses into their relationships and how they lived. If you love Boston and have lived here long enough to treasure all the history, this should be a delightful read for you.
This was both a great entertaining story and a really informative and fun to read description of both Boston and the early years of Harvard Medical School in the 1800s. A small circle of prominent professors that we are all familiar with are part of the story, and we get little glimpses into their relationships and how they lived. If you love Boston and have lived here long enough to treasure all the history, this should be a delightful read for you.
labtracks's review against another edition
4.0
Dental evidence and reasonable doubt show themselves here. The jury instructions here were so well done they were used for years to come and to some extent are still used today. Quite impressive. What a history, what a setting, what a tale. It makes it even better that this was all true. So fascinating.
Unfortunately I found parts of this a bit dry, despite my interest in the subject matter. But overall I thought this was well done and definitely a story worth telling.
Unfortunately I found parts of this a bit dry, despite my interest in the subject matter. But overall I thought this was well done and definitely a story worth telling.
ezekielbyu's review against another edition
3.0
Collins deftly guides his reader through the goings-on of Dr. Parkman's murder - his disappearance, the grisly circumstances of his body's discovery in a Harvard chemistry lab, and the ensuing (and highly impactful) trial. The world of the Boston Brahmins is well-sketched, so the reader has a good enough immersion into what might initially seem like a far-removed American past.
Was Professor Webster a psychopath? Maybe, maybe not. His murder of Parkman was a horrific act in a moment of pure anger, not (at least from the details of Webster's confession) a premeditated calculation. He loved his family and was known as a kindly man. But his many debts, shrouded in secrecy, and the deceits carried out unbeknownst to his creditors point to some great inner lack that likely played a part not only in the gross attempts to rid the world of Parkman's corpse, but also his subsequent accusations against the innocent campus janitor, Littlefield. He was a high-society man who - perhaps because of his status - earnestly rationalized that he could escape the consequences of his actions purely on the basis of his standing. And is it so different, now? How many nice, decent Americans are one moment's provoked fury away from bloodshed? How many would be willing to terminate a soul in a desperate attempt to hide their own lack?
Was Professor Webster a psychopath? Maybe, maybe not. His murder of Parkman was a horrific act in a moment of pure anger, not (at least from the details of Webster's confession) a premeditated calculation. He loved his family and was known as a kindly man. But his many debts, shrouded in secrecy, and the deceits carried out unbeknownst to his creditors point to some great inner lack that likely played a part not only in the gross attempts to rid the world of Parkman's corpse, but also his subsequent accusations against the innocent campus janitor, Littlefield. He was a high-society man who - perhaps because of his status - earnestly rationalized that he could escape the consequences of his actions purely on the basis of his standing. And is it so different, now? How many nice, decent Americans are one moment's provoked fury away from bloodshed? How many would be willing to terminate a soul in a desperate attempt to hide their own lack?
marginaliant's review against another edition
5.0
"The skeptic might have pointed out that Shaw, as a member of Harvard's board of overseers, had a conflict of interest in this case, but that was not how the law worked in Boston, and particularly, not how the law worked at Harvard."
This isn't an analytical academic history, but it is a wonderfully constructed narrative history that gripped me from the get-go. Collins has done a wonderful job piecing together the story of the Parkman-Webster murder case from court records, newspaper clippings, diary entries, all very seamlessly. I had a hard time putting it down, every page was equal parts fascinating and consternating and demonstrates the complete omnipresence of "Harvard Men" in Cambridge and Boston at the time. I wish it had gone a bit further in teasing out some of the implications of the trial, what it does is very brief, but overall I had a great time and I'm going to be reading more of Collins' work in the future.
This isn't an analytical academic history, but it is a wonderfully constructed narrative history that gripped me from the get-go. Collins has done a wonderful job piecing together the story of the Parkman-Webster murder case from court records, newspaper clippings, diary entries, all very seamlessly. I had a hard time putting it down, every page was equal parts fascinating and consternating and demonstrates the complete omnipresence of "Harvard Men" in Cambridge and Boston at the time. I wish it had gone a bit further in teasing out some of the implications of the trial, what it does is very brief, but overall I had a great time and I'm going to be reading more of Collins' work in the future.