''LAPD '53'' is a historical non-fiction book by

James Ellroy Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, ...

and Glynn Martin, about the laws, crimes, and the

LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

, during the year of 1953. Ellroy is a writer known mainly for crime fiction set in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Martin was the executive director for the Los Angeles Police Museum. This book's information was provided by the Los Angeles Police Museum's archives, as well as more than 80 duotone photographs to illustrate the text. The dedication for ''LAPD '53'' is "FOR Jim and Doug THE VALOROUS ARE TOO OFTEN DEAD OR UNRECOGNIZED". A ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' article quoted him saying "Once Glynn and I studied the photos with our book team at the museum, we made the determination that everything we wanted fell under the calendar year of 1953. We were astounded by the diversity of the crimes. There’s a lot of murder and a disproportionate amount of suicide, but what unifies it all is the level of artistry of the photographs themselves...".

Reception

The magazine ''

'' included it on its list "6 Books You Need to Read in May", saying "LAPD ’53 makes for a coffee table book that is easy to pick up and hard to put down". The ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' said of the book "At best, this is a beautifully designed book, on arguably the most important civic police body in the United States of America". '' The National'' also included in their list of "Top Six Books This Week". ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' also included it in its "Book of the Week".

References

Books by James Ellroy 2015 non-fiction books 1953 in Los Angeles Abrams Books books {{crime-book-stub