Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders

Vincent Bugliosi · Curt Gentry

Dec 2001 · W. W. Norton & Company

About this ebook

The #1 True Crime Bestseller of All Time—7 Million Copies Sold

In the summer of 1969, in Los Angeles, a series of brutal, seemingly random murders captured headlines across America. A famous actress (and her unborn child), an heiress to a coffee fortune, a supermarket owner and his wife were among the seven victims. A thin trail of circumstances eventually tied the Tate-LeBianca murders to Charles Manson, a would-be pop singer of small talent living in the desert with his "family" of devoted young women and men. What was his hold over them? And what was the motivation behind such savagery? In the public imagination, over time, the case assumed the proportions of myth. The murders marked the end of the sixties and became an immediate symbol of the dark underside of that era.

Vincent Bugliosi was the prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial, and this book is his enthralling account of how he built his case from what a defense attorney dismissed as only "two fingerprints and Vince Bugliosi." The meticulous detective work with which the story begins, the prosecutor's view of a complex murder trial, the reconstruction of the philosophy Manson inculcated in his fervent followers…these elements make for a true crime classic. Helter Skelter is not merely a spellbinding murder case and courtroom drama but also, in the words of The New Republic, a "social document of rare importance."

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Ratings and reviews

Read the book when it 1st came out. Also read & listened to the media. Drug addict with hypnotizing powers. Main figure watching others commit crimes of cult murders. August 9, 1969. Beautiful & pregnant actress bludgeoned to death. Sharon Tate lives on in her movies. La Biancas wealthy socialites known for their kindness to others thru their business. Stolen lives for nothing. Manson never received the death penalty. Schizophrenia without help will never survive in public. Appeals denied. No remorse.

Absolutely sucks that none of the images that were in the original hardcopy are included here. Nothing in description about it either, which really ticked me off.

Excellent book, but beware, there are no illustrations in this version, contrary to the product description. Would give 5 stars if the pictures were there.

About the author

Vincent Bugliosi (1934—2015), was the prosecutor of Charles Manson and author of Helter Skelter, Outrage, and other #1 bestselling books.

Curt Gentry (1931-2014), an Edgar winner, was the author of J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets, Frame-Up: The Incredible Case of Tom Mooney and Warren Billings, and co-author of Helter Skelter with Vincent Bugliosi.