Underworld London: City of Crime - Hardcover

Arnold, Catharine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0857201166 ISBN 13: 9780857201164

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK, 2012

Synopsis

A quirky, fascinating portrait of the English capital's dark and criminal underbelly throughout history Beginning with an atmospheric account of Tyburn, this grisly excursion through London as a city of ne'er do wells takes in beheadings and brutality at the Tower, Elizabethan street crime, cutpurses and con-men, 18th century highway robbery, and the rise of prisons, the police, and the Victorian era of incarceration. It also examines the influence of London's criminal classes on the literature of the 19th and 20th century, through to the Krays and Soho gangs of the 1950s and 1960s. London's crimes have changed over the centuries, both in method and execution. This lively popular history traces these developments, from the highway robberies of the 18th century, made possible by the constant traffic of wealthy merchants in and out of the city, to the beatings, slashings, and poisonings of the Victorian era.

About this title

About the Author:

Catharine Arnold's previous books include Bedlam: London and Its Mad and Necropolis: London and Its Dead.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0857201166
• ISBN 13: 9780857201164
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320