The Trial of the Haymarket Anarchists: Terrorism and Justice in the Gilded Age [Hardcover]

The Trial of the Haymarket Anarchists is the culmination of seven years of research into the 1886 Haymarket bombing and subsequent trial. It not only overturns the prevailing consensus on this event, it documents in detail how the basic facts, as far as they can be determined, have been distorted, obscured, or suppressed for seventy years.The Investigation? Preparing for Trial? The Prosecution? The Defense? The Elements of a Riot? The Verdict? Road to the Supreme Court? Executions and Amnesty? The Pardon

*Winner of the Best Book award from Labor History*

In The Trial of the Haymarket Anarchists, Timothy Messer-Kruse rewrites the Haymarket trial's legacy. He provides well-written, counter-arguments for historians to consider. Journal of Illinois History

'Messer-Kruse chronicles Chicago's underground network of anarchists sensational stories, ripe for a Hollywood movie.' Time Out Chicago

Messer-Kruse's greatest discovery: 'Textbooks ignore the transcript and say the trial was unfair. But if you judge it by standards of its day, it was (fair). In those days, you were convicted by testimony, not fingerprints and DNA. They had 162 witnesses and a lot of he said/she said. But then, that's what a trial was. The Chicago Tribune

'Desiring to present a more complete and nuanced telling of this monumental event in US history, Messer-Kruse will undoubtedly ruffle many academic feathers with his revisionism. Clearly written and impressively researched, this text will spark conversation among historians and those interested in US labor history. Highly recommended.' CHOICE

'Messer-Kruse chronicles Chicago's underground network of anarchists sensational stories, ripe for a Hollywood movie.' Time Out Chicago 'Drawing on his meticulous research, Timothy Messer-Kruse raises provocative questions about a momentous event that scholars thought we understood. He shows that history is in tls!