Questions About Boston: A Documentary Novel of the Sacco Vanzetti Case

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look up Upton Sinclair's letter to John Beardsley the whole book is a lie Sinclair knew that both were guilty?

Rob Stainton I did some research on this. Jennifer should do the same. First, the whole book is not "a lie": it omits one fact. Sinclair received some evidence (i.…moreI did some research on this. Jennifer should do the same. First, the whole book is not "a lie": it omits one fact. Sinclair received some evidence (i.e., a claim of their guilt by one of their defense lawyers) which he found questionable, and did not include in the book. Second, he was open about his ambivalence and the crisis of conscience this potential evidence caused him. See his Preface for hints of this, and his later correspondence. Third, the after-the-fact evidence seems to exonerate Vanzetti, but to implicate Sacco.

All that said, even the book itself makes clear that both were guilty of something illegal. They were members of a bomb-throwing anarchist group, after all. The issues that remain for me are about process and result: was their trial fair and impartial; and was electrocution the appropriate punishment? I'd answer 'No' on both counts.(less)

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