Killers of the Flower Moon
Oil, Money, Murder and the Birth of the FBI
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Killers of the Flower Moon
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Narrated by:
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Will Patton
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Ann Marie Lee
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Danny Campbell
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By:
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David Grann
About this listen
WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST FACT CRIME
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NON-FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY MARTIN SCORSESE STARRING LEONARDO DICAPRIO
From the bestselling author of The Lost City of Z, now a major film starring Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller and Robert Pattison, comes a true-life murder story which became one of the FBI’s first major homicide investigations.
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. As the death toll climbed, the FBI took up the case. But the bureau badly bungled the investigation. In desperation, its young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. Together with the Osage he and his undercover team began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
©2017 David Grann (P)2017 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
‘A riveting true story of greed, serial murder and racial injustice’ JON KRAKAUER
‘A fiercely entertaining mystery story and a wrenching exploration of evil’ KATE ATKINSON
‘A fascinating account of a tragic and forgotten chapter in the history of the American West’ JOHN GRISHAM
Osage county, 1920’s Oklahoma, and the native American people, the Osage, were notionally the wealthiest per capita of that time. Sitting atop vast oil reserves to which they had legal title, outsiders viewed their wealth variously as a source of fascination and envy. Indeed, and carrying over much of the vestiges of racism from the prior century, for many the Indians did not deserve to be so fortunate. Government policies of paternalism, corruption at state and local level in which whites were always favoured, and venal criminality leading to countless murders, meant for the Osage this period is remembered as the reign of terror.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
A tale of stupefying greed, corruption and racism
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Huge respect to the author for the top quality investigating, especially that contained in the third part of the book. It's a telling episode in US history which deserves not to be forgotten.
Perhaps it's just the audio format, but I found that at times it was difficult to keep track of the different names and relationships, particularly by the third part. they cone thick and fast. I feel the writer could have done more to refresh and contextualise. Also, the writing often lacks that "sense of place" which can make stories like this come alive.
The audio narration of the second part is excellent, and the third part good. The first part is bad - overwrought and plaintive to the point of being irritating. Glad I pushed through though.
Amazing reporting and story...
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Killers of the he Flower Moon.
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A Dark Business
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The author has meticulously researched the reign of terror to which the Osage Nation were subjected during the 1920s oil boom on their reservation.
He explains how agents separate from the police on a national scale were needed to crack the corruption in the police force and how the FBI came into being.
In his final summing up of the case the author points to the death of so many Osage people other than the 24 in this particular case. It runs into hundreds and for what? Just sheer greed and total disrespect and disregard for the lives and families of a people who possibly would not have benefitted from this oil if they had not have been forced onto a reservation in the first place.
The book is structured in 3 parts. The first giving the history of the situation and how the Osage came into such wealth and how the authorities and capitalists managed to get a grip on their money and how the reign of terror began. The second deals with how The investigation of the murders took place and how the early FBI under J. Edgar Hoover gradually broke through a strong wall of corruption in which so many important people were involved.
Lastly, there is a summing up of the case and how the families got on after the event. It would seem that the investigation only scratched the surface of how many killings took place often by underhand methods such as poisoning.
I am a Brit, living at a time when exploitation and racism seems once more to be on the rise (if it ever went away). We all need to read this book and weep for the Osage and learn to be brave and speak truth to power in difficult times.
Filthy Lucre
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