Let the Bunker Burn: The Final Battle With Move
In 1985, a siege by Philadelphia police of a house owned by the black radical cult MOVE resulted in 11 deaths and a fire which destroyed the entire neighborhood. An investigatory commission found that city officials had been reckless and grossly negligent. Bowser, a black politician, was a member of that commission. His personal analysis is selective and assumes the reader is familiar with these events. He concludes that black Mayor Wilson Goode was inept and the actions of the white police chief were criminal. Except for a few insights into the commission's work, his book adds nothing new to the story. John Anderson and Hilary Hevenor's Burning Down the House ( LJ 6/1/87) remains the best account of the MOVE tragedy. Journalist/juror Michael Boyette's "Let It Burn!": The Philadelphia Tragedy will be published by Contemporary Books in July.- Ed. -- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., DavisCopyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.