Barry Latzer Books

A scholar and columnist, Barry Latzer has dedicated his professional career to the study of violent crime in America and is one of the country’s leading experts on the topic.

In addition to his four books, he’s also published 70 scholarly articles for journals such as the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Judicature, Judges’ Journal and Criminal Law Bulletin, as well as columns for The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post and the New York Daily News.

Latzer served as Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College, CUNY for over three decades.

Barry Latzer Books

The Rise and Fall of Violent Crime in America

From the nightly newscast to shaping the way we think of urban life in America, violent crime (or the threat of it) seems like a constant. Or should we say, seemed like…

One of America’s preeminent scholars on violent crime, Barry Latzer, has carefully documented the rise, and the fall, of violent crime across the country. Starting in post-war America and measured up until 2015, Latzer’s latest book details the rapid spike in violent crime and its decline, and with it documents a social history of the United States and the relationship between violent crime with the rise of the middle class, the baby boom, protest movements, the urbanization of minorities and more.

One of the most significant domestic issues across the country for fifty years, Latzer highlights how it arose and how it faded away. And in this resurgent era of violent crime, there are lessons to be learned.

The book comes recommended by Ben Shapiro.

The Roots of Violent Crime in America: From the Gilded Age through the Great Depression

Criminologist Barry Latzer’s historical look at violent crime in America’s past.

Ranging from the 1880s to the 1930s, Latzer’s work challenges conventional thinking and assumptions about violent crime in America during an era that’s often considered to be a particularly tragic one.

That era is often thought of one marked by particular violence in America’s urban centers, but Latzer, thought extensive research, has shown that despite issues like poverty, cities in the East and Midwest has lower rates of violent crime than sparsely populated areas across the country.

Not only that, past assumptions about violence tied to racial groups or prohibition are generally misunderstood as well.

For anyone wanting to know the real story of violent crime in America’s past, this is a must read.

Death Penalty Cases: Leading U.S. Supreme Court Cases on Capital Punishment

A detailed analysis of 25 US Supreme Court death penalty cases, this book presents the facts around the case law related to capital punishment with insight provided by the author. A resource book, textbook and educational tool for anyone wanting to truly understand the status of capital punishment in the American legal system.