She Stands Accused

MacClure, Victor, 1887-1963Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 405K words
Chapters: 41

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.She Stands Accused by Victor MacClureAuthor: MacClure, Victor, 1887-1963,Language: English, Class: HV: Social sciences: Social pathology, Social and Public Welfare, Release Date: Apr 1, 1996

Editor's review

She Stands Accused is a work of true-crime reporting centered on female defendants, by Victor MacClure, an author active in the British popular-writing world in the first half of the twentieth century. The book narrates a number of cases involving women accused of crimes, falling at the intersection of social pathology and crime reportage; Project Gutenberg classifies it under social science. Its readability comes from the narrative tension of the cases themselves and the author's elaboration of the characters' circumstances—readers can take it as true crime stories and also glimpse contemporary social attitudes toward women, justice, and moral judgment. It should be noted that early reportage of this kind bears clear marks of its era in the selection of material and tone of narration, and is not suitable for use as rigorous modern judicial research. It suits readers interested in criminal history and social history as supplementary reading; reading with a critical awareness of historical sources will be more rewarding.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in true-crime reportage and social history
Beginners in research seeking to understand early twentieth-century British gender attitudes
Readers with reasonable English proficiency who enjoy nonfiction narrative
Crime-literature enthusiasts wishing to trace the early forms of this genre

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking rigorous modern judicial analysis or forensic knowledge
Readers sensitive to crime details and prone to discomfort
Readers who prefer fictional detection and expect a clear detective-solution structure

Reading tips

Read each case as an independent chapter, pausing briefly after each before continuing to avoid confusion of impressions.
Note the author's stance and wording in the narration, and consider how the attitudes of the era shape the presentation of cases.
Read alongside background material on British social history or women's history to deepen understanding of the cases' context.
For discussion, first list the factual points, then distinguish the author's commentary from the case material itself.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book based on real cases or is it fiction?

It is a work of reportage built around real cases involving female defendants, not a fictional detective novel. Early crime reportage, however, often carries the author's subjective commentary and the prejudices of its time; readers should distinguish narration from factual material.

In which country do the cases take place?

The author is British and the work is classified under social science, with the narrative background mainly related to British society. The specific location and period of each case should be determined by what each chapter states, and should not be generalized.

Do I need a legal background to read it?

No. The book is primarily narrative and aimed at general readers, with few legal terms. Basic English reading ability is enough to read it through; for unfamiliar concepts in judicial procedure, a brief background reference will keep you on track.

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About the author

MacClure, Victor, 1887-1963 Author · British · 1887–1963

Victor MacClure (1887–1963) was a British writer active in the first half of the twentieth century, known for his detective fiction and true-crime writing. His career spanned the years between the two world wars, during the golden age of British detective fiction, when readers took a keen interest in both puzzle-style mysteries and factual crime reporting. MacClure worked in both modes, constructing fictional mysteries as well as setting out the circumstances of real cases. His representative work, She Stands Accused, deals with cases involving women in the dock and belongs to the kind of true-crime writing at which he excelled. Public information about his life is limited, and his education, career, and full body of work are difficult to establish in detail. Only one of his works is currently held in this collection, through which readers may glimpse his narrative style and thematic interests.