Rating: 
Summary: Great for facts and court, but...
Review: If what you want is an avalanche of factual detail about the Tate/LaBianca/Hinman murders, the investigation surrounding those murders, and the trials of Manson and some of his Family members, this is the book for you. It's clear that Bugliosi is a gifted prosecutor with a keen eye for detail and organizational abilities worthy of an Army quartermaster on campaign. The guy didn't miss a trick, and his version of events is compelling.The book, however, would be more compelling by far if Bugliosi understood the meaning of the word "humble." In every facet of the investigation, in every recorded moment of the trial, he is right, and anyone who didn't have his ability with details and organization is wrong. I suppose the problem with exceptionally gifted people is that they often have little patience for those who operate at lesser levels. Bugliosi's descriptions of the trial and the Everest-like proportions of evidence that needed to be sifted through, make it clear that it all he could do--with the help of LAPD, LASO, and other jurisdictions' police departments--to get his fact investigation taken care of. Certainly, had he not had different police detectives working for him, he never would have been able to present the case as he did. Yet he seems to think that the Manson Family defense attorneys should have been able to keep up with him and realize the significance of everything just as he did. He gives barely a nod to the fact that it was one's first trial, another had never won a trial before, all of them were working hard in a situation where they were probably under threat of their lives, and *none* of them were getting paid much if anything for their work. Bugliosi had police protection, a guaranteed salary, and information that trickled in over a period of months, leaving him time to assess it for worth. The defense attorneys had clients whose friends just might do more than threaten them if things went bad, wre making little if any money while expending much of their own, and were given information in huge batches that likely overwhelmed them and likely dimmed the significance of any one particular thing. The prosecutor, regardless of discovery rules, has far more of an advantage over the defense than Bugliosi seems willing to admit. If you take the book at face value, you will probably come to the conclusion that everyone involved in the Manson prosecution and defense, except for Bugliosi, is either foolish, lazy, or stupid. However, if you read it with the intention of picking up the facts of the case and the details of the trial, you will come out of the experience with a great deal of knowledge and the opinion that Bugliosi, maybe, just can't help coming off sounding like a tool.
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