Defy All the Devils: America's First Kidnapping for Ransom

The “fascinating, hair-raisng, suspenseful” account of a little boy abducted in broad daylight and the desperate manhunt to find him (The New York Times Book Review).

On July 1, 1874, four-year-old Charley Ross and his older brother, Walter, were playing in front of their stately Philadelphia home when a horse-drawn carriage pulled up with two men who offered candy and fireworks if the boys would ride with them.

Hours later, Walter came back, stating that they had ridden through the city until the men abandoned him in the street but kept Charley.