Includes bibliographical references (p. [467]-510) and index.

The kidnapping -- The relationship -- Planning the murder -- The murder -- The ransom -- The interrogation -- The confessions -- Clarence Darrow -- Robert Crowe -- The indictment -- The scientists arrive -- Mitigation of punishment -- Psychiatrists for the defense -- Psychiatrists for the state -- Closing arguments -- Sentencing -- Aftermath.

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 met several years earlier, and their friendship had blossomed into a love affair. They believed themselves too smart for the police, but they were soon caught. They confessed, and the state's attorney announced that he had a hanging case. Set against the backdrop of the 1920s, a time of prosperity, self-indulgence, and hedonistic excess, this book draws the reader into a world of speakeasies and flappers, of gangsters and gin parties, 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.--From publisher description.