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The A-Z of Victorian Crime
£9.60£10.40 (-8%)
Few things are more evocative of Victorian Britain than its criminals; they are, together with railways, gas lamps and swirling fog, vital ingredients in any Victorian melodrama. The truth, however, was often stranger, more thrilling and more horrifying than fiction. In this book, four eminent crime historians reveal the realities of this aspect of Victorian life, illuminating not just the criminals and their victims, but also the policemen, forensic scientists and others who rubbed shoulders with the nineteenth-century underworld. Notorious crimes – the Road Hill Murder, the Balham Mystery and Jack the Ripper – stand alongside long-forgotten, neglected cases; the most shocking and terrifying cases appear next to everyday horrors, some stunning and some merely sad. This unique work of reference deserves a place on every true crime reader’s bookshelf.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Amberley Publishing, Reprint edition (15 April 2019) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 320 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1445689480 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1445689487 |
| Dimensions | 12.7 x 2.03 x 19.69 cm |
by Richard Jones
The great thing about this book is that it provides you with a ready reference on many of the more famous crimes and criminals of the Victorian era. Want to know who Dickens, reputedly, based Fagin on? – it’s in here. Need to look up the details of Oscar Wilde’s spectacular fall from grace? you’ll find it in these pages. Searching for primers on the detectives who worked the Jack the Ripper case? no problem, you’ll find them in the entry on the ripper, but also, in several cases – such as Abberline and Swanson – they even have their own entries. I also liked the fact that the book looks at various types of crime and provides entries on things such as forgery and fraud and pickpockets so that the reader can gain an insight into 19th century attitudes the crimes and the perpetrators.
The A to Z structure makes looking up a particular event or person a breeze, you can either turn to the relevant alphabetical entry, or else scan the alphabetical content list at the beginning and many of the entries have suggestions for further reading for those cases, and there are many of them, that might tweak your interest and inspire you to conduct further investigation. In short, the book is a fantastic and usable reference on the criminal history of the 19th century and is an invaluable resource for students, aficionados and the just plain curious. Highly recommended.
by ALLOYD
Can’t recommend this highly enough. A great read and thoroughly interesting. Great for just dipping into too. A few cases I’ve never heard of, and many familiar too, from the sad to the bizarre. I also like the authors’ recommendations for further reading. A great book to have on the book shelf, or better still, on your lap!
by Elizabeth F
I just had to have it. I’m really in to my family history and my relative wouldn’t have received the same harsh punishment if she had committed the same crime today. This book confirms that. This apart – the book gives brief outlines of some of the most notorious Victorian criminals. Doesn’t go into much detail but then it is what it is, a book to dip in to.
by Mr. D. R. Goodman
Useful for dipping into, but ultimately there is just not enough about each case to make it worthwhile. It would have been better to have concentrated on a few, because the information given when trying to deal with so many cases is that the information in each is sparse and hardly worth reading.
by Tiptonian
A concise and well written book containing all aspects of Victorian society. Well worth consulting by anyone who is researching social history. Congratulations to all the authors involved.
by ShazzyShaz
Bought for a friend who was bed ridden, his only joy was reading, he loves the victorian era so this book was perfect, he loved it, I also got the victorian inventions
by TRISH
BOUGHT THIS BOOK FOR ME BUT WOUND UP ORDERING A SECOND COPY FOR A FRIEND.
by Djaye
A real treat. A great read and reference book for anyone interested in Victorian crime at any level. Even those with a good knowledge and a keen interest in the subject will find something new to them in here. Well written and researched by trusted crime historians I recommend this book to anyone as a starting point for a journey into the world of Victorian crime.