On March 20, 1911, a 13-year-old boy was found stabbed to death in a cave on the outskirts of Kiev. Four months later, Russian police arrested Mendel Beilis, a 37-year-old father of five, and charged him not only with Andrei's murder but also with the Jewish ritual murder of a Christian child. Despite the fact that there was no evidence linking him to the crime, and that he had a solid alibi, Beilis was imprisoned for more than two years. As a handful of Russian officials and journalists diligently searched for the real killer, the rabid anti-Semites known as the Black Hundreds created a frenzy throughout Russia. The incompetent trial brought Russian liberals to Beilis's side, as well as an array of international supporters. The jury's split verdict allowed both sides to claim victory: they agreed with the prosecution's description of the boy's wounds--a description implying a ritual murder--but they determined that Beilis was not the murderer. After the fall of the Romanovs in 1917, a renewed effort to find Andrei's killer was not successful.--From publisher description.