During the summer of 1924, everyone was obsessed with Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, the two wealthy, brilliant, lovers who had brutally murdered a boy with a chisel just for the "thrill." Between the charm and accessibility of the dashing teenage defendants, their "deviant" sexual appetites, and the 1920s' culture wars over the generational shift in acceptable morality, it is no wonder it was labeled the trial of the century. 100 years after the murder, this groundbreaking new biography reveals the motivations behind Bobby's death and the secret life of one of his killers. Pulling on previously unseen archival collections from across the country, Arrested Adolescence looks at the full life of Nathan Leopold to discover the secrets hidden from history.
Erik Rebain is an archivist who works for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago History Museum. He has spent seven years researching the life of Nathan Leopold in over forty archival collections across the United States.
Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction Part One: Childhood Chapter 1: Growing Up Chapter 2: A New Relationship Chapter 3: Wild Lives Part Two: Crime Chapter 4: Planning Chapter 5: Execution Chapter 6: Caught Part Three: Sentencing Hearing Chapter 7: Incrimination Chapter 8: The Hearing Begins Chapter 9: The Hearing Ends Part Four: Prison Chapter 10: A New Code Chapter 11: Turbulence Chapter 12: The Prime of Life Chapter 13: Loss Chapter 14: Depression and New Hope Chapter 15: Image Rehabilitation Chapter 16: Parole Part Five: Freedom Chapter 17: A New Life Chapter 18: Emerging from Seclusion Chapter 19: Freedom Chapter 20: Notoriety Becomes Celebrity Chapter 21: High Life Chapter 22: Decline and Death Conclusion Bibliography About the Author Index
Arrested Adolescence is an engrossing account of one of the most sensational crimes of the 1920s. Through meticulous research, Rebain gives us a careful and astute retelling of the life of Nathan Leopold, his 'crime of the century, ' and his life after prison. What emerges is a complex portrait of a privileged and gifted youth, a self-avowed hedonist, and an unapologetic conman, unspooling a life that has been layered in so much myth and legend for decades.--James Polchin, author of Indecent Advances: A History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall In Arrested Adolescence, author Erik Rebain delves deeply into the life of Nathan Leopold, challenging the lurid portraits and self-serving narratives surrounding the infamous murderer. At the book's heart, Rebain wrestles with the question of Leopold's rehabilitation and whether he was truly a reformed man. Looking closely at Leopold's 33 years in prison and the 13 years in Porto Rico after his release, Rebain tells a new story, one that differs dramatically from Leopold's and his supporter's carefully crafted tale of redemption. Utilizing a vast array of archival materials, Rebain presents Leopold in all his human flaws, a man whose life, behaviour, and motivations could never escape his teenaged obsessions, entitlements, desires, and crime.--David S. Churchill, University of Manitoba, Canada Fascination with Nathan Leopold, and his partner in crime the 'evil' Dickie Loeb, seems to survive decades of changes in fashion and taste in celebrities. This volume usefully sheds light on Nathan Leopold's childhood and return to society after imprisonment. Crime and its reception always a mirror of its social context, when and where it happened, and later.--Leigh Bienen, senior lecturer, Northwestern University School of Law, and co-author of Crimes of the Century: From Leopold and Loeb to O.J. Simpson
