Real Sweeney - Softcover

Kirby, Dick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841199117 ISBN 13: 9781841199115

Publisher: Constable & Robinson, 2005

Synopsis

From his bruising first experience of giving witness to securing Britain's first ever double-supergrass, Dick Kirby describes with a strong dose of humour the trials and tribulations of over twenty years spent in the Serious Crime Squad and Flying Squad. Not for him the flabby compromises shown to today's criminals. Kirby's methods lead straight into the underworld, meeting informants in often dangerous situations, gathering together intelligence before hitting the criminals hard, either when they're carrying out a crime or hauling them from their beds at an unwholesomely early hour. Whether it's the Kings Cross job that became the worst kept secret in London, or the case of the unhappy bigamist who burst into tears, Kirby tells things the only way he knows - no punches pulled. His tales of how life in the force used to be in the good old days are sometimes shocking, sometimes blackly funny, and always compelling.

About this title

Review:

Those who haven't sampled the terrific true tales penned by this retired detective, are in for a page-turning experience to remember. (Joseph Wambaugh, author of The Choirboys)

Dick Kirby gives us a unique insight into the workings of the Flying Squad as it used to be. (John O'Connor, former Flying Squad Commander)

From the Author:

As you read this book, you may well come to the conclusion that the justice which was administered by me and my contemporaries was a trifle rough, that the language used was a little immodest and if you feel that the needs of the victims of crime were put way beyond those of the perpetrators of the crime ... well, you're probably quite right.
It was the way that law and order was administered then; it isn't now. As the dying terrorist says in Mimi Leder's excellent film, 'The Peacemaker', "I want things to be as they were." Well, just forget it, because they won't be. We've gone too far and the clock simply can't be wound back and for the decent, hard-working men and women of this country, it's a crying shame.
But as you sit back in your fireside chair, a glass of good red wine in your hand, re-read some of the adventures which we experienced, when political correctness had never been heard of, when we simply couldn't wait to go on duty and protecting the citizens of London was actually fun - although, not of course, to the villains!

About this edition

• Publisher: Constable & Robinson
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1841199117
• ISBN 13: 9781841199115
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288