Helter Skelter,  by Vincent Bugliosi

Recommended For: People fascinated with Manson, pre-law students, true crime enthusiasts.

Nobody could have been prepared for having the burden of proving Charles Manson’s guilt. After all, he never stepped foot on either of the major crime scenes. However, Bugliosi does a great job of getting him locked up forever, and is also definitely the man to explain the craziness of the case. This book goes through the series of events, personal conversations with the Family, and even the ridiculous motives behind the horribleness.

The reason that I did not give it five full stars had less to do with the content and more with the depth. Sometimes the book did seem to be never-ending, as it went over every detail of courtroom manner. In the end though, all the details were relevant and necessary to fully understanding the insanity of the Family members. Finishing this book was like conquering a huge mountain, but I am very happy that I did so. It was well worth the time and effort.