From the dust jacket- Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer--some have called him a "Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter"--whose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity. From his humble beginnings in upstate New York to the dazzling salons and social life he established in New York City, at every turn Rulloff used his intelligence and regal bearing to evade detection and avoid punishment. He could talk his way out of any crime...until one day, Rulloff's luck ran out.
By 1871 Rulloff sat chained in his cell--a psychopath holding court while curious 19th-century mind hunters tried to understand what made him tick. From alienists (early psychiatrists who tried to analyze the source of his madness) to neurologists (who wanted to dissect his brain) to phrenologists (who analyzed the bumps on his head to determine his character), each one thought he held the key to understanding the essential question: is evil born or made? Eventually, Rulloff's brain would be placed in a jar at Cornell University as the prize specimen of their anatomy collection...where it still sits today, slowly moldering in a dusty jar. But his story--and its implications for the emerging field of criminal psychology--were just beginning.
Review- A very interesting historical true crime story that helped both undermine phrenology and credit to psychiatry. Rulloff was considered as brilliant by some but a cold blooded killer by all. He defied the logic of the day as he was not deformed or handicapped in anyway. So in the logic of the time, he should not be a killer. But he did kill his wife and baby daughter. So Rulloff was the debate of the century. The writing is not bad but it does drag at times. I would recommend this book if you are a historical true crime fan.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
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