As the title promises mr toobin recounts the kidnapping crimes and trial of patty hearst and recreates the struggle for the reader of the central question of her case was patty hearst a willing participant in the crimes she committed paradoxically liberated from the trappings of her previous life by her abduction by the symbionese liberation army sla. American heiress the wild saga of the kidnapping crimes and trial of patty hearst is a highly readable historical account of one of the biggest news stories of the 1970s the best part of the book is the last sentence because it speaks so much about patty hearsts ability to be a chameleon and blend in with her surroundings. The story of patty hearst captures it all on february 4 1974 the young heiress to the hearst fortune was kidnapped by members of the symbionese liberation army the sla as they styled themselves was a small ersatz collection of audacious imbeciles led by an ex convict who called himself field marshal cinque. From new yorker staff writer and bestselling author of the nine and the run of his life the people v o j simpson the definitive account of the kidnapping and trial that defined an insane era in american history on february 4 1974 patty hearst a sophomore in college and heiress to the hearst family fortune was kidnapped by a ragtag group of self styled revolutionaries calling itself the symbionese. From new yorker staff writer and bestselling author of the nine and the run of his life the people v o j simpson the definitive account of the kidnapping and trial that defined an insane era in american history on february 4 1974 patty hearst a sophomore in college and heiress to the hearst family fortune was kidnapped by a ragtag group of self styled revolutionaries calling itself the symbionese liberation army