VILLAINS' PARADISE Britain's Underworld From the Spivs to The Krays

Thomas (Donald)

ISBN 10: 0719557348 / ISBN 13: 9780719557347

Published by John Murray, 2005

About this Item

Hardback. INSC. AND SIGNED. With the war over, the 1940s and the 1950s in Britain have the aura of a golden age. But nostalgia is deceptive: to contemporaries, the battlefront seemed only to have moved closer to home, as anxiety about armed robberies and psychopaths spread. Teenage Teddy-boy razor gangs proliferated and youths casually stabbed each other at dance halls. Billy Hill and Jack Spot slashed their way to underworld supremacy, while witnesses lost their memories. Ronnie Biggs and his accomplices prototyped the gang of the future with the famous Great Train Robbery of 1963, and Brighton police corruption shook public complacency. Britain had lost the Ashes, exports had nose-dived and all of its secrets had probably been given to the Russians, but when it came to safe-blowing, it led the world. By 1970 crime had tripled. By the end of the century it would triple again. With the narrative sweep and eye for telling detail that was a hallmark of his previous 'underworld' accounts, the author chronicles a history we might rather forget, through compelling stories we can't live without. Profusely Illus. + Notes and Index. 506pp. lge. 8vo. h/back. PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY DONALD THOMAS. F. in Nr. F. dw. A fairly heavy book which may require additional postage, particularly if shipped overseas. Seller Inventory # 19689

Bibliographic Details

Title: VILLAINS' PARADISE Britain's Underworld From...

Publisher: John Murray

Publication Date: 2005

Binding: Hardcover / Hardback

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

Signed: signed and inscribed by author

Edition: First edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

'A thorough, clear and entertaining analysis of post-war criminality'

(Marcel Berlins, The Times )

'Fascinating . . . A serious, well-written book . . . Admirably clear-eyed'

(Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday 20050918)

'Crime, like the poor, is always with us. Donald Thomas's skill in this book is to put it into its historical context'

(Ray Connolly, Daily Mail 20051028)

'An intensely detailed, exhaustively researched and highly readable social history. Or, should one say, anti-social history?'

(Evening Standard 20051017)

'A rewarding and utterly necessary read.'

(Clive Aslet, Country Life 20051027)

'This is not just another essay in the true crime genre. Thomas has written a very decent piece of 20th century british history . . . well-written, solidly-researched'

(Sunday Herald 20050925)

'This is a serious . . . social history ... Compelling stories ... This is fresher and more challenging than fiction' (The Herald 20050910)

'For all those readers who enjoy well-researched true crime and narrative-led social history, the latest Donald Thomas is a must for their bookshelves.' (Gilda O'Neill, author of OUR STREET 20050427)

About the Author:

Donald Thomas is the prolific author of dozens of books, including poetry, fiction, biography, and true-crime. His widely praised The Victorian Underworld was short-listed for the Golden Dagger Award and followed by An Underworld at War (2003). Thomas is also the author of seven biographies, including the international bestseller Cochrane: Britain's Sea-Wolf. He lives in Bath.