Dark City: Crime in Wartime London - Hardcover

Read, Simon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0711034435 ISBN 13: 9780711034433

Publisher: Ian Allen Pub, 2010

Synopsis

Amidst the chaos of wartime London, criminals hunted their prey without fear of reprisal. Many operated under the cover of darkness, emerging when the city sank into the oblivion of its nightly blackout; others simply struck whenever opportunity presented itself. At a time when Londoners were pulling together in the face of terrible adversity, there were an increasing number of looters, racketeers, terrorists, criminal gangs, prostitutes, rapists, and murderers stalking the bomb-ravaged, panic-ridden streets, and this book chronicles the rapid rise of crime throughout this turbulent period. The deprivations of war forced many onto the wrong side of the law, stretching the resources of London’s Metropolitan Police Department to the limit. Air raids and the dangers of patrolling London in the dark cost the police more than one hundred men during World War 2. Petrol rationing and mandatory radio silence placed limits on the department’s mobility and communications.

About this title

About the Author:

An award-winning newspaper reporter, Simon Read is the author of four other works of nonfiction, including In the Dark: The True Story of the Blackout Ripper (published as The Blackout Murders in the United Kingdom) and The Killing Skies: RAF Bomber Command at War. He has written two other books on historic crimes: On the House and the soon-to-be-released War of Words. His paternal grandfather, Percival Percy” Read, was a detective-inspector with the Metropolitan Police during the war and an investigator on the Chicago Joe/Karl Hulten and Rillington Place murder cases. A native Briton, Simon Read currently lives and works in the United States.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ian Allen Pub
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0711034435
• ISBN 13: 9780711034433
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192