This is a vibrant history of the tragedy of Sacco and Vanzetti. The book bursts with relevance when the reader imagines the "wops" of the 1920s as the "ragheads" of the 21st century. Whether S & V were guilty is not relevant (though most likely they were not guilty of any crime). The tragedy of the story is how they were denied a fair trial because Massachusetts was swept up in a xenophobic backlash against all Italians/anarchists based on isolated acts of terrorism. That a few Italians were suspected of terrorism meant that all Italians were guilty of any crime of which they were accused. The same thing is happening today, with Guantanamo, torture, rendition. The case of Sacco and Vanzetti was judged an historical failure, a tragedy. It is a mistake we should have learned from.