Now and Forever

Did Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti murder two men in South Braintree, Massachusetts on April 15, 1920? At their joint trial, alibi witnesses testified Vanzetti was selling fish that day in North Plymouth. Other alibi witnesses testified that they saw Sacco in Boston that day.

What is the truth?

Did the Dedham jury--12 men of New England culture--have evidence for conviction? Or did their guilty verdict in 1921 stem from a deeply rooted bias against these two Italian immigrants who militantly pursued their anarchist-communist goals? Were Saco and Vanzetti innocent men? Did Governor Fuller refuse to stop their execution in 1927 because Massachusetts wanted to strike back at radical aliens who set off bombs in U.S. cities in the Red Scare of 1919? Why did so many intellectuals believe the men innocent?

Answers to these questions are in the transcripts of the trial. This handbook reprints all critical testimony from the trial as well as major items from the 80-year debate. 52 questions help you sort out the experts--those who are right and those who are wrong on the trial verdict.

"Kill Now, Talk Forever" is cited in the 5th edition of AFTER THE FACT: THE ART OF HISTORICAL DETECTION (2005), by James West Davidson and Mark Hamilton.