And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank

The definitive account of one of American history’s most repellent & most fascinating moments, combining investigative journalism & sweeping social history 

"Years later, the tale of murder & revenge in Georgia still has the power to fascinate...Intense, suspenseful.” — The Washington Post Book World 

In 1913, 13-year-old Mary Phagan was found brutally murdered in the basement of the Atlanta pencil factory where she worked. The factory manager, a college-educated Jew named Leo Frank, was arrested, tried, & convicted in a trial that seized national headlines. 

When the governor commuted his death sentence, Frank was kidnapped & lynched by a group of prominent local citizens. Steve Oney’s acclaimed account re-creates the entire story for the first time, from the police investigations to the gripping trial to the brutal lynching & its aftermath. 

Oney vividly renders Atlanta, a city enjoying newfound prosperity a half-century after the Civil War, but still rife with barely hidden prejudices & resentments. He introduces a Dickensian pageant of characters, including zealous policemen, intrepid reporters, Frank’s martyred wife, & a fiery populist who manipulated local anger at Northern newspapers that pushed for Frank’s exoneration.