This is a book that is not so much written by an author, but is edited in several sections by several men.

• It starts off with mobsters and the mafia;
• moves through gin crime and other crimes in 18th and 19th Century;
• has a section on the Wild West and why bandits weren’t all that likeable after all;
• moves through the slew of hoaxes and frauds that emerged in the late 19th century and through the 20th century , with fake biographies, false gurus and outright liars; and
• it end with the royal and political scandals of the last century.

It’s important to note that this is not a well written book, but it is well researched. It is also quite outdated, being written in 1993 and not sufficiently updated even though my edition was published in 2001. This is significant in the light of the various films that have been released on these stories in the past 13 years (the authors refer to popular media depictions) including the Aviator, the capture of Biggs, the death of both the Krays and the death of John Profumo. (Okay, I mentioned the last to see if you’re concentrating – he only died March this year and this couldn’t possibly feature in the book :0))

But it’s a great compendium of facts and trivia ad I’m really glad I read it. It’s made me quite keen to go on to other biographies and autobiographies now and that makes me happy.