Last Chance for Justice

How Relentless Investigators Uncovered New Evidence Convicting the Birmingham Church Bombers

By T. K. Thorne

HISTORY

288 Pages, 6 x 9

Formats: Cloth, Mobipocket, EPUB, PDF, Trade Paper

Cloth, $26.95 (CA $29.95) (US $26.95)

Publication Date: September 2013

ISBN 9781613748640

Rights: WOR

Chicago Review Press (Sep 2013)
Lawrence Hill Books

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Overview

Reexamining the infamous Birmingham church bombing

Revealing the story of the reopening of the case of the Birmingham, Alabama, church bombing of 1963, this insider’s account divulges the ins and outs of the investigation led by detective Ben Herren of the Birmingham Police Department and special agent Bill Fleming of the FBI. For more than a year, they analyzed the original FBI files on the bombing and activities of the Ku Klux Klan, then began a search for new evidence. Their first interview—with Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry—broke open the case, but not in the way they expected. Herren and Fleming unearthed lost evidence and convinced long-silent witnesses to tell their stories. With tenacity, humor, dedication, and some luck, the pair encountered the worst and best in human nature on their journey to find justice, and perhaps closure, for the citizens of Birmingham.

Reviews

"Thorne’s story is a stunning reminder of just how tough the fight for freedom—and justice—really is."—Publishers Weekly

"This is an important examination of the Birmingham bombing on its fiftieth anniversary."—Booklist

"This is a story that desperately needed to be told, to be shared." —Alabama Booksmith

“A page-turner, as well as an important addition to the historical record. . . . A thought-provoking work.” —Frye Gaillard, writer in residence at the University of South Alabama, author of Cradle of Freedom: Alabama and the Movement That Changed America.

“In Last Chance for Justice, T.K. Thorne portrays the remarkable skill, determination, and tenacity of Alabama law enforcement officials on a mission too long forsaken and largely forgotten. . . . As a civil rights activist fifty years ago and a reinvigorated one today, I am especially grateful for the commencement and completion of that mission. The author’s deeply researched account is at once marvelously entertaining and enlightening.” —Judge U. W. Clemon, former chief justice for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

“Really masterful. It tells me things I didn't know about a story we all know a lot about. . . . A very compact, impactful narrative.” —Robin deMonia, Birmingham News

Author Biography

T. K. Thorne served as an officer in the patrol and detective bureaus of the Birmingham Police Department for 20 years, retiring as precinct captain in 1999. She is the author of Noah’s Wife.

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