Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (edition 2017)

by David Grann (Author)

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7,076	326	1,398	(4.07)	384
Presents a true account of the early twentieth-century murders of dozens of wealthy Osage and law-enforcement officials, citing the contributions and missteps of a fledgling FBI that eventually uncovered one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.

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Member:	TheKroog
Title:	Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Authors:	David Grann (Author)
Info:	Vintage (2017), 347 pages
Collections:	Your library
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Tags:	kindle

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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

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English (322) French (2) Catalan (1) All languages (325)

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Showing 1-5 of 322 (next | show all)

I’m heartbroken. Even if I hadn’t been a person with a strong sense of justice, the torment and terror that besieged the Osage is unthinkable. The novel is thoughtful and sensitive, reminding us that these are not just the names of bygone victims, but mothers, fathers, beloved family members and friends. Their families still carry the wounds of the injustice of the Reign of Terror. Totally recommend. (

)

Quietnote13 | Jan 5, 2025 |

Fantastic.

I really enjoyed this book. It read quick and drew me in from the first few pages. There were enough plot twists to keep me entertained. Well written and researched. (

)

Beammey | Dec 20, 2024 |

Shocking! This history should be taught in school. As with every audio book, my attention often wandered. But the ending was riveting, as the narrator delved into the archives and discovered many more potential murders than the known 24. Perhaps hundreds more!

Well worth reading! (

)

casey2962 | Dec 16, 2024 |

This is a horrific account of the deaths, investigations, trials, and oversights of murders of the oil-rich Osage headright holders in the early 1920s. And of how J. Edgar Hoover used a curtailed investigation to establish himself securely in the federal hierarchy.
The murderous conspiracy, or multiple conspiracies, were carried out by men masquerading as friends and helpers of the Osage—just the sort of men who have again come to power in the USA. Let us all carefully and as securely as possible record what they will not want to survive their ascendancy, whether it is 2 years, 4 years, or the rest of our lifetimes. (

)

quondame | Nov 23, 2024 |

Gut punch of a book. American horror story impeccably told. Grann humanely and masterfully wrangles thousands of documents and evidence into a chilling tale of utter depravity launched against the innocent Osage and powered by extractive capitalism, internal colonialism, white supremacy, weak legal systems, and everyday small-town corruption. (

)

jmgiles | Nov 15, 2024 |

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Showing 1-5 of 322 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

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De maand van de bloemendoder is een fascinerend en tegelijkertijd gruwelijk boek over de moordpartijen, discriminatie en uitbuiting van Osage indianen aan het begin van de 20e eeuw in Oklahoma. Nadat de Osage, zoals zoveel indianen in de Verenigde Staten, waren verjaagd naar een reservaat in Oklahoma, bleek hier olie gevonden te worden. Hierdoor werden de Osage opeens rijk. Echter dit betekende ook uitbuiting, discriminatie en vele moordpartijen. David Grann is jarenlang bezig geweest met onderzoek naar misstanden die plaatsvonden en De maand van de bloemendoder is het zeer boeiende eindresultaat hiervan...lees verder >

added by Jordaan | editAllesoverboekenenschrijvers.nl, Theo Jordaan (Aug 23, 2017)

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (5 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
David Grann	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Campbell, Danny	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Carella, Maria	Designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Dedekind, Henning	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Fontana, John	Cover designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Gay, Cyril	Traduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Lee, Anne Marie	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Patton, Will	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Strömberg, Ragnar	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Ward, Jeffrey L.	Cartographer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Has the adaptation

Killers of the Flower Moon [2023 film] by Martin Scorsese

Has as a student's study guide

Summary of David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon: Key Takeaways & Analysis by Sumoreads

Analysis of David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon by Milkyway Media by Milkyway Media

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Finalist – Nonfiction – 2018)

Anthony Award (Winner – Critical / Non-Fiction – 2018)

Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize (Shortlist – Nonfiction – 2017)

Crime Writers' Association Awards (Shortlist – Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction – 2018)

Edgar Award (Winner – Fact Crime – 2018)

Goodreads Choice Awards (Nominee – History & Biography – 2017)

Indies Choice Book Awards (Winner – Adult Nonfiction – 2018)

National Book Award (Finalist – Nonfiction – 2017)

NCSLMA Battle of the Books (High School – 2021)

NCSLMA Battle of the Books (High School – 2025)

Reading the West Book Award (Winner – Nonfiction – 2017)

Spur Award (Winner – Western Historical Nonfiction – 2018)

Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee – High School – 2023)

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction (Nominee – 2023)

Distinctions

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

Original title

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2017-04-18

People/Characters

Important places

Oklahoma, USA

Fairfax, Oklahoma, USA

Pawhuska, Oklahoma, USA

Gray Horse, Oklahoma, USA

Important events

Osage murders (1918-1931)

Epigraph

There had been no evil to mar that propitious night, because she had listened; there had been no voice of evil; no screech owl had quaveringly disturbed the stillness. She knew this because she had listened all night.
—John Joseph Mathews, Sundown

A conspiracy is everything that ordinary life is not. It's the inside game, cold, sure, undistracted, forever closed off to us. We are the flawed ones, the innocents, trying to make some rough sense of the daily jostle. Conspirators have a logic and a daring beyond our reach. All conspiracies are the same taut story of men who find coherence in some criminal act. —Don DeLillo, Libra

We have a few mouth-to-mouth tales; we exhume from old trunks and boxes and drawers letters without salutation or signature, in which men and women who once lived and breathed are now merely initials or nicknames out of some now incomprehensible affection which sound to us like Sanskrit or Chocktaw; we see dimly people, the people in whose living blood and seed we ourselves lay dormant and waiting, in this shadowy attenuation of time possessing now heroic proportions performing their acts of simple passion and simple violence, impervious to time and inexplicable. —William Faulker, Absalom, Absalom!

Dedication

For my mom and dad

First words

In April, millions of tiny flowers spread over the blackjack hills and vast prairies in the Osage territory of Oklahoma.

Quotations

Page 141
Perhaps because he witnessed this—and other executions—or perhaps because he had seen the effect of the ordeal on his father, or perhaps because he feared the system could doom an innocent man, Tom grew to oppose what was then sometimes called “judicial homicide.” And he came to see the law as a struggle to subdue the violent passions not only in others but also in oneself.

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▾Book descriptions

Presents a true account of the early twentieth-century murders of dozens of wealthy Osage and law-enforcement officials, citing the contributions and missteps of a fledgling FBI that eventually uncovered one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.

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▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Osage Indian murders in Wikipedia

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