A history of the hard conditions of the British penal system. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Britain had eased its problem of crowded jails and surplus criminals by packing them into ships and sending them off to the American colonies to be sold as what nearly amounted to slave labor. All this came to an end with the revolution of 1776 and the legal system was stuck with an ever-increasing army of desperate felons. As there was no national prison system, these felons were cra...

Before its present-day affluence, the Notting Hill area of London once had a second-to-none reputation for its criminality. Victorian developers sought to bring in wealthy Londoners to the large villas, but in the twentieth century the houses became multi-occupancy and the area synonymous with cheap lodging and crimes of every hue. In Notting Hill and North Kensington Murders and Misdemeanours author Mick Davis explores some of the most notorious crimes associated with Notting Hil...

The ancient city of Bath has always attracted visitors, flourishing in the Georgian era and becoming home for the fashionable and wealthy. The city was rebuilt to reflect its new status and although areas were devastated by aerial attacks in the Second World War and the misguided destruction of the 1960s, Bath today is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. In Bath Murders and Misdemeanours author Mick Davis has delved into local records to reveal the dark side of lif...

The true crime story of a master swindler and charming con-artist who became one of the most notorious female criminals of the Victorian Age.'The story of Mrs. Gordon Baillie is stranger than anything to be met with in the field of fiction.'Mrs. Gordon Baillie, known throughout her life as Annie, was born in the direst poverty in the small Scottish fishing town of Peterhead in 1848. Illegitimate and illiterate, her beauty and intelligence nevertheles...

A true crime account of a murdered teen in Victorian-era England, the Scotland Yard sergeant sent to investigate, and the gripping events that followed.Before Road there was Frome . . . before Whicher there was Smith . . . before the heartless slaughter of four-year-old Saville Kent, there was the brutal rape and murder of fourteen-year-old Sarah Watts.Taking place nine years earlier than the Road Hill case, made famous by the bestselling book The Suspici...

The Somerset town of Frome might top national polls as a great place to live and enjoy a reputation as the epitome of cool, with Hollywood A-listers regularly spotted on its street and global rock-stars playing its venues, but the place hasnt always been so chic and behind this modern-day faade lies a more sinister and foul past; full of murder, kidnapping, rioting, witchcraft and rebellion, among the other nefarious activities that have taken place over the centuries in the town and surro...

An informative springboard from which to dive deep into the rich and illustrious heritage of the county steeped in the legend of King Arthur.Every inch of legendary Somerset is imbued with history, from the towns of Dunster and Taunton in the west, to those of Shepton Mallet and Frome in the east; while also contained within its county boundaries are the cities of Bath and Wells and the mystical and magical Isle of Avalon: Glastonbury.The county, located in...

Frome was historically one of the largest towns in Somerset and is rapidly growing today. Its wealth was built on wool and cloth industries, later metalworking and printing, bringing many people into the town. Agricultural work was also the way of life for many. As these industries rose and fell, the fortunes of many fluctuated and in periods of decline life was often hard. In Frome Murders and Misdemeanours authors Mick Davis and David Lassman delve into local records to reveal the dark s...

People have lived in the Frome area since prehistoric times and the present town dates back as far as the Saxon era. In the early days it was famous for the quality of its cloth, but the industry and trade declined in the eighteenth century. Over the centuries it has had its fair share of rioting and crime, as well as some notable personalities and eccentrics such as Thomas Bunn, an eighteenth-century philanthropist. It was also the birthplace of Benjamin Baker, builder of the Forth Bridge...

Aeron Davis takes a close look at the state of elites today. He argues that the Brexit vote and 2017 election outcome are signs of a deeper leadership crisis that has been developing over decades. The great transformations of the 1980s onwards have not only upended societies, they have reshaped elite rule itself. Too many leaders today, regardless of intent, are ignorant, precarious, rootless and self-serving. Although richer, they have lost coherence, influence and control. Increasingly, ...

Michael Moran redescobriu o poder do Miracleman! Porém, sem que ele saiba, o doutor Emil Gargunza, o homem por trás do Projeto Zaratustra, pôs em andamento planos elaborados por décadas. Em A síndrome do Rei Vermelho, as intenções de Gargunza para a mulher e o filho não nascido de Miracleman preparam o palco para o confronto entre criador e criatura. As origens de Gargunza e do Zaratustra são reveladas, e vida e morte serão decididas nas profundezas das selvas do Paraguai!

Weymouth has been a major sea port on England’s south coast since the Middle Ages and although it became a popular resort through King George III’s patronage and later when the railways arrived, the area also developed a strong military presence in the nineteenth century with barracks being built in Weymouth and a new naval dockyard developed on the nearby Isle of Portland. A convict prison was opened on Portland and is still a prison today. In this book author Mick Davis explores some of ...