The history of execution at Pentonville began with the hanging of a Scottish hawker in 1902. Over the next sixty years the names of those who made the short walk to the gallows reads like a who's who of twentieth-century murder. They include the notorious Dr Crippen, Neville Heath, mass murderer John Christie of Rillington Place, as well as scores of forgotten criminals: German spies, Italian gangsters, teenage tearaways, cut-throat killers and many more.Infamous e...

Over the years the high walls of Liverpool's Walton Gaol have contained some of the most infamous criminals from the north of England. Taking over from the fearsome Kirkdale House of Correction as the main centre of execution for Liverpool and other parts of Lancashire and neighbouring counties, a total of sixty-two murderers paid the ultimate penalty here. The history of execution at Walton began with the hanging of an Oldham nurse in 1887, and over the next seventy years...

For decades the high walls of Durham gaol have contained some of the countrys most infamous criminals. Until hanging was abolished in the 1960s it was also the main centre of execution for convicted killers from all over the north east. The history of execution within the walls of Durham Gaol began with the hanging of two labourers side by side in 1869, by the notorious hangman William Calcraft. Over the next ninety years a total of seventy-seven people took the short walk...

Between them, the three men in the fearsome Pierrepoint dynasty executed over 800 people during a career spanning more than half a century. Henry, his brother Thomas, and his son Albert, dispatched some of the most infamous criminals of the 20th century, and in the process earned a public notoriety that followed them throughout their eventful lives.For years, the three men were faced with the task -- prestigious to some, horrific to many others -- of being the last point of contact for the...

"The Executioner's Bible" tells the story of these working-class men who carried out this gruesome profession until its abolition in the late 1960's. Despite often being unassuming and quiet professionals, men like Albert Pierrepoint, William Billington and many other Chief and Assistant executioners made a name for themselves in a world hungry for salacious and gruesome news. Read about the bungling hangmen sacked for incompetence; drunken executioners dismissed for brawling; one hangman ...

A look at the dark side of life in Bolton, this book provides the reader with a collection of true stories based on real murders. Each tale provides a macabre account of these infamous crimes and the events leading up to them. The reader will learn about the case of the despicable Betty Eccles who slowly poisoned her children to death by putting arsenic in their puddings, or ponder upon the mysterious death of James Booth a local business man who suffered a violent death after eating at th...

More Murderous Bolton is a gripping collection of fascinating and true tales of the one crime that still fills people with horror. From the author of Murderous Bolton, this second comprehensive volume continues with further accounts of murder committed through jealousy, greed, revenge, robbery and pure evil in and around the Bolton area. In this thrilling chronicle of spine chilling murders, Steve Fielding takes us through the decades of the twentieth century, recalling stories such as: th...

'EXCELLENT WRITING AND RESEARCH' - RUTH RENDELLThe Crime Museum of New Scotland Yard - invariably known as 'the Black Museum' - houses a remarkable collection of exhibits, photographs and documents connected with some of the most notorious crimes in this country's history. Although the museum is closed to the general public, Gordon Honeycombe was granted privileged access to its classified records, and his book reveals the stories behind 21 murders committed in Britain between 1835 and 198...

This book tells the story of every murder which took place in Manchester during the twentieth century and which ended in the execution of the person found guilty of the crime and who went on to pay the ultimate penalty of death by hanging at the end of a rope.Some cases are well-known, such as those of George Rice, William Burtoft and Walter Graham Rowland who was reprieved for a murder he did commit but was later hanged for one which he may not have committed but any of the lesser...

Desperation, duty and desire - the three primary motives for breaking what is the oldest taboo in the Western world, cannibalism. This book investigates all three and presents startling evidence that will challenge cultural and moral perceptions as never before.Throughout history there have been instances of humans who, finding themselves in extremis, are forced to eat companions out of sheer desperation in order to survive. Do we reserve judgement in these circumstances, ...

In 1888 Jack the Ripper made the headlines with a series of horrific murders that remain unsolved to this day. But most killers are not shadowy figures stalking the streets with a lust for blood. Many are ordinary citizens driven to the ultimate crime by circumstance, a fit of anger or a desire for revenge. Their crimes, overshadowed by the few, sensational cases, are ignored, forgotten or written off. This book examines all the known murders in London in 1888 to build a p...

ON 15 MAY 2017, IAN BRADY DIED IN HOSPITAL, ENTIRELY UNREPENTANT OF HIS EVIL CRIMES. WITH HIM ALMOST CERTAINLY DIED THE SECRET OF WHERE THE BODY OF TWELVE-YEAR-OLD KEITH BENNETT, THE LAST OF HIS AND MYRA HINDLEY'S YOUNG VICTIMS, LIES.Ian Brady was one of the most notorious and reviled serial killers in Britain. With his co-conspirator, Myra Hindley, he committed what became known as 'the Moors Murders' in which five children were abducted, assaulted and murdered. Dr Chris Cowley has...