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All That Is Wicked: A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind
Acclaimed crime historian, podcaster, and author of American Sherlock Kate Winkler Dawson tells the thrilling story of Edward Rulloff--a serial murderer who was called "too intelligent to be killed"--and the array of 19th century investigators who were convinced his brain held the key to finally understanding the criminal mind. Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer--some have called him a "Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter"--whose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity. From his humble beginnings in upstate New York to the dazzling salons and social life he established in New York City, at every turn Rulloff used his intelligence and regal bearing to evade detection and avoid punishment. He could talk his way out of any crime...until one day, Rulloff's luck ran out. By 1871 Rulloff sat chained in his cell--a psychopath holding court while curious 19th-century "mindhunters" tried to understand what made him tick. From alienists (early psychiatrists who tried to analyze the source of his madness) to neurologists (who wanted to dissect his brain) to phrenologists (who analyzed the bumps on his head to determine his character), each one thought he held the key to understanding the essential question: is evil born or made? Eventually, Rulloff's brain would be placed in a jar at Cornell University as the prize specimen of their anatomy collection...where it still sits today, slowly moldering in a dusty jar. But his story--and its implications for the emerging field of criminal psychology--were just beginning. Expanded from season one of her hit podcast on the Exactly Right network (7 million downloads and growing), in All That Is Wicked Kate Winkler Dawson draws on hundreds of source materials and never-before-shared historical documents to present one of the first glimpses into the mind of a serial killer--a century before the term was coined--through the scientists whose work would come to influence criminal justice for decades to come.
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Community Reviews
Very fascinating look at nature va nurture and the effects on the brain in regards psychopathy. Excellent storytelling.
Not a fan. Lots of information that just fluffed an 1800s murderer’s meaningless biography. The only race was mine to finish the book at 1.7 speed.
3.5⭐️
In 1871, condemned Edward Rulloff sat in a cold, dank cell awaiting execution. He had been tried and convicted of multiple crimes - including robbery, kidnapping, and cold-blooded murder - yet there forces that advocated for his value to the academic world. In All That is Wicked, Kate Winkler Dawson draws on dozens of interviews and historical documents to present a shocking window into the mind of a psychopath, a mind that would open the doors to the neuroscience study of the criminal mind.
This book does a fantastic job of introducing readers to psychopathy, phrenology (the study of the size and shape of skulls), and briefly introduces the beginnings of neuroscience. Additionally, the book is well researched in regard to the impact Edward made on the Schutt family and the beginnings of investigating the criminal mind. However, there are some pitfalls of the book:
- Repetitiveness. There are numerous times throughout the book where the same definitions are restated and the commentary is repeated/rephrased.
- Unnecessary Comparisons to Ted Bundy: We’ve all heard about Ted Bundy, and his “legacy” of being a serial killer. Throughout the book, the author compares Edward to Bundy, however, the key difference is that Bundy was an actual serial killer and Edward had monomania (a condition where those inflicted suffer from a form of partial insanity provoked by one pathological preoccupation). I guess she made the comparison because they both could pass as gentleman in society, but were capable of murder. However, Bundy again was an actual serial killer whereas Edward had killed for convenience and for the sake of his research.
- Besides Edward’s impact on advancing studies of the criminal mind so early on in history, there was nothing special about this killer. He WAS JUST A MAN, who happened to have a very out there fixation on the study of languages. However, as the academics investigate in this book, his research had no merit, so why was there any debate on if he should live because of his “vast intelligence and potential to society”.
- Set up to focus more on the neuroscience and the “race to decode the criminal mind”, but more than half the book was a biography about his life and the interviews he had with various individuals. I wished there was more than just the one short chapter on the effects Edward’s brain and associated studies had on the field of studying the criminal mind.
This book had such a great premise on the debate of if someone extremely intelligent and who is of value to society committed a crime, should they be spared from their punishment. However, it just fell short due to Edward’s own inadequacies as an intelligent criminal and the drawn out repetitiveness of the commentary.
This was an interesting first dip into true crime for me. A great deal of this book read like fiction, which made it enjoyable for me, and when it got down to the nitty gritty factual stuff, it was palatable and not dry. Honestly, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this and really feel like I learned a lot about the evolution of psychology, the justice system, and also got a blatant look at just how scary it must have been to be alive during a time which violent crime was so easy to get away with. Side note: I read this because it was January's pick for the Morbidly Curious Book Club.
Pretty middle of the line here but I think when I framed viewing the book as more learning how an intelligent killer was able to charm and win the hearts of some people while others could see him for the schmuck that he is was entertaining. Ruloff likely isn't as sensationalized due to his more disorganized approach and that his were more crimes of passion, but comparison between him and Ted Bundy was clever to help showcase how two "intelligent" killers in different times didn't behave so differently.
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