HOSTAGES TO FORTUNE: A Study Of Kidnapping In The World Today

brown & tan 1/2 cloth hardbound 8vo. 8º (octavo). dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. vg cond. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges have yellow fox spots. contents free of markings. dustwrapper in near fine cond. faded spine, minor chipping along top, not price clipped. nice clean copy. no library markings or store stamps, no stickers or bookplates, no names, no inking , no underlining, no remainder markings etc ~. first american edition so stated. first printing (NAP). xiv+305p. + author bio note. glossy b&w photo illustrations. index. true crime. conspiracy theory. politics. lindbergh baby. frank zimmerman. carla ovazza. sardinia. i sequestrabili. the diplomat as hostage. brazil. uruguay. argentina. the businessman as hostage. aldo moro. red brigades. hanns~martin schleyer and the baader~meinhoff gang ~ British~born Caroline Moorehead has been a feature writer for the London Times since 1973. She has translated fiction and nonfiction from French and Italian, written a guide to volunteer work, and contributed to the Italian Encyclopedia of Psychology. She lived for two years in Rome, and now makes her home, with her husband and two children, in London. Given recent world events, kidnapping is never far from our minds. Since the late 1960s, the crime has been spreading~from North and Latin America to Italy, Spain, Germany, and the Middle East, and though there is absolutely nothing new about "the snatch racket," it is viewed with particular horror ~and fascination~by society today. In this engrossing book, Caroline Moorehead presents a riveting study of political and criminal kidnapping around the world, from "diplonapping" in Brazil, to the activities of the ruthless shepherd outlaws in Sardinia. She explores the personal agonies kidnapping inflicts on victims, their families and friends, the diplomatic dilemmas it presents, and the alarming implications of its continued use. As the author says: "What makes kidnapping different from other crimes is that there is no absolute security from it, no way of stopping the public from wanting to hear more and more about it." The author has talked to those who have been kidnapped, heard about their feelings and their relations with their kidnappers. She has interviewed families who have lived for weeks and even months waiting for news, and has questioned not only the policemen and lawyers who try to find ways of fighting the spread of this crime, but the psychiatrists and doctors who have counseled families and victims when they return from captivity. She has also investigated the fringe world of kidnapping: the highly paid bodyguards, the security devices, the armies of specially trained police, all of whom are part of a new and elaborate protection industry that is an enormous and still~growing business. Is political kidnapping part of a world~wide network of terrorism? How far can a government be justified in resisting kidnappers at the expense of helpless people? With remarkable honesty and humanity, Caroline Moorehead grapples with these urgent questions. …