Dick Turpin - The Myth of the English Highwayman. - Hardcover

Sharpe, James

3.59

69 ratings by Goodreads

9781861972989: Dick Turpin - The Myth of the English Highwayman.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1861972989 ISBN 13: 9781861972989

Publisher: Profile Books, 2004

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Published In 2004 : 1st. Edition : 2nd. Printing : Profile Books : Small Amount Of Very Faint Face Rubbing : Otherwise , As New Throughout : Overall , A Very Nice Book : Buy With Complete Confidence With Amazon's Excellent Refund & Returns Policies + SAPPHIRE'S Famed 24 HR. UK & International Shipping ( AT NO EXTRA UK CHARGE ) Guarantee :

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Review:

Crisp, colourful and possessed of appropriately large quantities of dash. (Sunday Telegraph)

A marvellous tale ... James Sharpe clearly knows his stuff. (Literary Review)

A well-written and extremely interesting book. (Daily Telegraph)

An engaging work of social history. (The Times)

He captures the life and times of Turpin perfectly, and finds something of interest in every character involved. (New Statesman)

An entertaining account of Turpin's life. (Sunday Telegraph)

Synopsis:

As Dick Turpin went to the scaffold in York in 1739 he was determined to look his best. The previous day he had had a new frock coat and pumps delivered to him in the condemned man's cell in York Castle Prison. And he paid GBP3 and 10 shillings for five men to act as mourners. Who was this notorious highwayman and why did he become so famous? What did he do to become the subject of such extraordinary myths? Most of all, why are highwaymen romantic figures? We have highwayman now: we call them muggers and car-jackers and we don't sing ballads about them or eulogise them for their brave exploits. This is a masterly biography of one of Britain's best-known criminals - but it is also an examination of the cult of the highwayman, of crime in the 18th century and the treatment of criminals. In the absence of any police force how were crimes solved? Who did the detective work? And did the criminals get a fair trial - an important question if you were going to hang from the neck for a relatively minor misdemeanour. Was there a criminal underclass and did people really live in terror of going on the roads at night.

Looking at the underbelly of society and the nastier aspects of life that many historians ignore, James Sharpe creates a vivid picture of life on the edges in 18th century Britain.

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