Download or read book Killers Kidnappers Gangsters and Grasses written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword True Crime. This book was released on 2022-10-07 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his latest thrilling book, much published crime author Dick Kirby draws on his fast moving policing service, much of which was with Scotland Yard’s Serious Crime Squad and the Flying Squad. As if that was not enough he brings in accounts of fellow coppers during the final decades of the 20th century to add a fresh dimension. It quickly becomes clear to the reader that Kirby and his colleagues practiced their art in a markedly different style than that prevailing today. Corners were cut, regulations ignored and pettifogging rules trampled on in the wider public interest of bringing criminals to justice and preserving law and order. Above all the best senior detectives led fearlessly. Kirby describes front line policing where the public came first and the criminals a poor second. There are great stories of arrests, ambushes, fights and meeting informants in unlikely places. Eyebrows may be raised at the book’s contents but many will feel that there is no place in the fight against serious crime for ‘woke-ness’ and political correctness and regret the passing of no-nonsense law enforcement.
Download or read book Killers Kidnappers Gangsters and Grasses written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword True Crime. This book was released on 2022-10-07 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his latest thrilling book, much published crime author Dick Kirby draws on his fast moving policing service, much of which was with Scotland Yard’s Serious Crime Squad and the Flying Squad. As if that was not enough he brings in accounts of fellow coppers during the final decades of the 20th century to add a fresh dimension. It quickly becomes clear to the reader that Kirby and his colleagues practiced their art in a markedly different style than that prevailing today. Corners were cut, regulations ignored and pettifogging rules trampled on in the wider public interest of bringing criminals to justice and preserving law and order. Above all the best senior detectives led fearlessly. Kirby describes front line policing where the public came first and the criminals a poor second. There are great stories of arrests, ambushes, fights and meeting informants in unlikely places. Eyebrows may be raised at the book’s contents but many will feel that there is no place in the fight against serious crime for ‘woke-ness’ and political correctness and regret the passing of no-nonsense law enforcement.
Download or read book Scotland Yard s Gangbuster written by Dick Kirby and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2018-11-30 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the late 1960s the Richardson Torture Gang and the Kray Twins were removed from the London scene by ACC Gerry McArthur and DS Nipper Read respectively.Predictably it was not long before the vacuum this left was being filled. With McArthur retired and Read moved on, who was to sort out the new gangland threat.Step forward Detective Chief Superintendent Bert Wickstead. Having cut his teeth on young desperadoes and neo-Nazis in North London and solved Londons biggest post war bank robbery, Wickstead was well qualified to head up the Yards Serious Crime Squad.First to fall were the Dixon brothers, followed by the Tibbs family. As his fame spread he took on the West End Maltese Syndicate specialising in prostitution and extortion. When he broke up the Norma Levy call ring, two cabinet peers had to resign.Inevitably Wicksteads career was dogged by unproved allegations of malpractice but, as this riveting insider account conclusively proves, he more than earned his sobriquet The Gangbuster.
Download or read book The Mayfair Mafia written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2019-08-30 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This true crime history reveals the shocking career of the London mafia family that ran a thriving prostitution empire for decades. From the mid-1930s into the 1950s, one immigrant Italian family ran London’s thriving vice trade. The five Messina brothers imported prostitutes from the Continent on an industrial scale, acquiring British citizenship for the women by phony marriages. Taking 80% of these women’s earnings, the Messina family became fabulously wealthy, purchasing expensive properties, cars and influence. As this revealing and absorbing account describes, the brothers ruled with a ruthless combination of charm, blackmail and threats of disfigurement and death that were all too credible. It took a sensational Sunday newspaper exposé to get the authorities to put an end to their criminal reign. A series of dramatic arrests and trials followed, as one by one the brothers were imprisoned and deported for crimes including immoral earnings, attempted bribery and firearms offenses. Such was their fortune that numerous potential beneficiaries came forward, most recently in 2012. Dick Kirby, an author and former Metropolitan police officer, presents a vividly detailed and thoroughly researched narrative of the five Messina brothers in this revealing and riveting read.
Download or read book The Case That Never Dies written by Lloyd Gardner and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2012-06-12 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essential reading for anyone interested in the most famous American crime of the twentieth century Since its original publication in 2004, The Case That Never Dies has become the standard account of the Lindbergh Kidnapping. Now, in a new afterword, historian Lloyd C. Gardner presents a surprise conclusion based on recently uncovered pieces of evidence that were missing from the initial investigation as well as an evaluation of Charles Lindbergh’s role in the search for the kidnappers. Out of the controversies surrounding the actions of Colonel Lindbergh, Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the New Jersey State Police, and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, Gardner presents a well-reasoned argument for what happened on the night of March 1, 1932. The Case That NeverDies places the Lindbergh kidnapping, investigation, and trial in the context of the Depression, when many feared the country was on the edge of anarchy. Gardner delves deeply into the aspects of the case that remain confusing to this day, including Lindbergh’s dealings with crime baron Owney Madden, Al Capone’s New York counterpart, as well as the inexplicable exploits of John Condon, a retired schoolteacher who became the prosecution’s best witness. The initial investigation was hampered by Colonel Lindbergh, who insisted that the police not attempt to find the perpetrator because he feared the investigation would endanger his son’s life. He relented only when the child was found dead. After two years of fruitless searching, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, a German immigrant, was discovered to have some of the ransom money in his possession. Hauptmann was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. Throughout the book, Gardner pays special attention to the evidence of the case and how it was used and misused in the trial. Whether Hauptmann was guilty or not, Gardner concludes that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of first-degree murder. Set in historical context, the book offers not only a compelling read, but a powerful vantage point from which to observe the United States in the 1930s as well as contemporary arguments over capital punishment.
Download or read book Scotland Yard s Flying Squad written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen & Sword True Crime. This book was released on 2020-09-19 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published to coincide with the Flying Squad's CentenaryNo-holds barred history of the most celebrated police unit in the CountryWritten by acclaimed ex-Scotland Yard author with unrivalled contacts.Gripping accounts of police investigations into notorious crimes and criminals.The Flying Squad's exploits have been frequently dramatised by TV, film and other media.Strong possibility of supporting TV documentary and serialisation
Download or read book Operation Countryman written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2018-03-30 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the summer of 1978, rumors emerged from the underworld that huge sums of money had been paid to the City of London Police to water-down evidence and arrange bail in cases of armed robbery. Then it was suggested that Scotland Yards Flying Squad was also involved.The Home Secretary appointed the Dorset Police to investigate but it became clear to the criminals upon whom they relied to provide evidence that they were completely out of their depth. One line of inquiry after another became hopelessly compromised.While the investigation was known officially as Operation COUNTRYMAN, things were so bad that the team were variously nicknamed The Swedey and Malice in Blunderland.Despite a four year inquiry costing 4,000,000, eight Metropolitan police officers were acquitted and just two City of London officers were imprisoned. Operation COUNTRYMAN had little to do with that success; the convictions resulted from the fearlessness of a City of London policeman.The Author, a former Metropolitan police officer has used his knowledge and contacts to lift the lid on the shambolic COUNTRYMAN inquiry. He pulls no punches.
Download or read book The Wrong Man written by Dick Kirby and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2016-02-03 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Ralph Martin was a cross-dressing criminal who carried out a string of sophisticated offences in the 1970s and ’80s. A prolific burglar, car thief, fraudster and gunman, he possessed a deep loathing of anyone in authority. In addition, he was a master of disguise and a veritable Houdini when it came to escaping from prison. After shooting a policeman during a botched burglary, he escaped from court on Christmas Eve, 1982. When police believed him to be in a yellow Mini in the Earls Court area with his girlfriend, they opened fire, only to discover they had shot an entirely innocent man – a 26-year-old film editor named Steven Waldorf.The investigation became a cause célèbre at the time, and was subsequently taken over by Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad, of which the author was a member. One of the biggest manhunts in the history of the Metropolitan Police ensued, before Martin was finally arrested after dramatically fleeing down the tracks between two Underground stations. Author Dick Kirby reveals for the first time the inside story of the hunt for ‘the most dangerous man in London’, whose eventual arrest brought to an end one of the most contentious investigations in Met history.
Download or read book Carnal Urges written by J.T. Geissinger and published by Bramble. This book was released on 2023-11-30 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dark, sexy mafia romance where the fast-paced tension of John Wick meets the high stakes love of Romeo and Juliet. Carnal (adjective): 1) Relating to the pleasures of the body 2) Given to sensual indulgence 3) The man who kidnapped me The devil has blue eyes, an Irish accent, and a hatred for me that runs deep. He blames me for starting a war. Consorting with his enemies. Getting his men killed. Though I’m innocent on all charges, he wants his pound of flesh. With an eye on revenge, he makes me his captive. But as we'll both soon discover, there are more powerful urges than that for revenge. When the devil meets his match but she’s his sworn enemy, that’s when the real war begins. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Download or read book Gangster Warlords written by Ioan Grillo and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2016-01-19 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Without this testimony, we simply cannot grasp what is going on . . . Americans would do well to read [Gangster Warlords]." --The New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice From the author of El Narco, the shocking story of the men at the heads of cartels throughout Latin America: what drives them, what sustains their power, and how they might be brought down. In a ranch south of Texas, the man known as The Executioner dumps five hundred body parts in metal barrels. In Brazil's biggest city, a mysterious prisoner orders hit-men to gun down forty-one police officers and prison guards in two days. In southern Mexico, a meth maker is venerated as a saint while enforcing Old Testament justice on his enemies. A new kind of criminal kingpin has arisen: part CEO, part terrorist, and part rock star, unleashing guerrilla attacks, strong-arming governments, and taking over much of the world's trade in narcotics, guns, and humans. What they do affects you now--from the gas in your car, to the gold in your jewelry, to the tens of thousands of Latin Americans calling for refugee status in the U.S. Gangster Warlords is the first definitive account of the crime wars now wracking Central and South America and the Caribbean, regions largely abandoned by the U.S. after the Cold War. Author of the critically acclaimed El Narco, Ioan Grillo has covered Latin America since 2001 and gained access to every level of the cartel chain of command in what he calls the new battlefields of the Americas. Moving between militia-controlled ghettos and the halls of top policy-makers, Grillo provides a disturbing new understanding of a war that has spiraled out of control--one that people across the political spectrum need to confront now.
Download or read book London s Gangs at War written by Dick Kirby and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-06-30 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Murder, torture and extortion all feature prominently as Mr. Kirby investigates some of the most famous incidents of the post-war era.” —Daily Mail Online The 1950s and 1960s saw a changing of the guard in London’s gangland. A new and even more ruthless breed of criminal emerged to replace the aging generation of the likes of Sabini, Mullins and Hayes. Protection rackets on bookies, club owners and shops were commonplace. Prostitution and drugs offered rich pickings. Police corruption was all too commonplace. Thanks to media interest the names of Charlie Richardson, Mad Frankie Fraser, Scarface Smithson and the Nichols became as widely known as they were feared. And then there were the Kray Twins, whose notoriety and brutality became watchwords. But as this insider book reveals they did not have it all their own way. For a thrilling and shocking story London’s Gangs at War is in a class of its own. What makes it so chilling is that the murders, torture and mayhem actually happened. “Ex-cop Dick Kirby has now laid bare the Krays’ empire.” —Daily Star Online “This is a riveting book and Dick has done his usual amazing research.” —London Police Pensioner “Dick Kirby pulls no punches as he looks in depth at some of the most infamous names from the criminal underworld.” —Media Drum World “Another excellent book in the impressive list of titles by Dick Kirby.” —History by the Yard “Some of this is familiar to us from TV programmes such as Foyle’s War and Dads’ Army—but Dick Kirby’s terrific book breaks new ground in identifying and recounting what actually happened during those troubled times.” —Books Monthly “Dick Kirby pulls no punches as he looks in depth at some of the most infamous names from the criminal underworld.” —Media Drum World “Another excellent book in the impressive list of titles by Dick Kirby.” —History by the Yard “Some of this is familiar to us from TV programmes such as Foyle’s War and Dads’ Army—but Dick Kirby’s terrific book breaks new ground in identifying and recounting what actually happened during those troubled times.” —Books Monthly
Download or read book When We Were Orphans written by Kazuo Ishiguro and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2001-01-16 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day comes this stunning work of soaring imagination. Born in early twentieth-century Shanghai, Banks was orphaned at the age of nine after the separate disappearances of his parents. Now, more than twenty years later, he is a celebrated figure in London society; yet the investigative expertise that has garnered him fame has done little to illuminate the circumstances of his parents' alleged kidnappings. Banks travels to the seething, labyrinthine city of his memory in hopes of solving the mystery of his own painful past, only to find that war is ravaging Shanghai beyond recognition—and that his own recollections are proving as difficult to trust as the people around him. Masterful, suspenseful and psychologically acute, When We Were Orphans offers a profound meditation on the shifting quality of memory, and the possibility of avenging one’s past.
Download or read book No Orchids for Miss Blandish written by James Hadley Chase and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Scourge of Soho written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-11-27 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Scourge of Soho describes the dramatic and eventful life of Detective Sergeant Harry Challenor MM and at the same time lifts the lid on front-line policing and the murky world of Soho criminals in the 1950s and 1960s.??Born into grinding poverty in 1922, Challenor fought with the Special Air Service during the Second World War, being parachuted behind enemy lines, captured twice, escaping twice. He was awarded the Military Medal.??Joining the post-war Metropolitan Police, challenor spent four years with the elite Flying Squad, before being sent to clear up crime in Soho. Pimps, racketeers and crooks were rounded-up and often found themselves in possession of a bewildering assortment of armaments of which they denied all knowledge. More sensible gangsters, like Reg and Ron Kray, took off as soon as his name was mentioned.??Challenor could not be frightened or bought-off, so the gang leaders put up a £1,000 reward to anyone who could frame him. In the end, it was not needed. During a political demonstration in 1963, half-bricks were planted on innocent protesters and three young policemen were imprisoned and Challenor certified as a paranoid schizophrenic and sent to a succession of psychiatric hospitals and care homes. Policeman-turned-author, Dick Kirby has interviewed former friends and colleagues of this determined but flawed character and has meticulously studied court records and official documents. The result is a sensational and gripping account of the man who became The Scourge of Soho.??As featured in the East Anglian Daily Times, Bury Mercury and Wolverhampton Magazine.
Download or read book The Racetrack Gangs written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword True Crime. This book was released on 2020-12-30 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “So if you’re a fan of Peaky Blinders and want to read the true stories behind those characters and tales . . . this is the book for you.” —Britain’s Gangland Magazine Between the two World Wars, there was a dramatic upsurge of violence as rival criminal gangs vied for rich pickings from bookmakers at racetracks throughout England. With ready access to cash, “bookies” were a magnet for mobsters’ blackmailing demands. Refusal to pay resulted in severe punishment. Their justified fears spawned a ready “protection” market. Conflict between rival gangs were frequent and increasingly violent. Charles “Darby” Sabini with his brothers ran “The Italian Mob” who clashed with Billy Kimber and his Brummagen Hammers. Uneasy partnerships were formed but seldom lasted. The Sabinis were friendly with the Cortesi family until a rift resulted in one of the Cortesis shooting Harryboy Sabini. Other gangs such as The Titanics and The Nile Mob were ready to fill voids. As well as broken alliances, internal friction and members changing sides resulted in bloodshed on the streets, in pubs and clubs and on the courses. Public order was so threatened that the Flying Squad was tasked with the eradication of the problem and, in 1936, the celebrated Battle of Lewes Racecourse brought matters to a bloody conclusion. This well researched and gripping account describes the vicious dramas played out in the 1920s and 1930s.
Download or read book The Interceptor written by Cameron Addicott and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2011-05-12 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fighting on the frontline of the war against crime, Cam Addicott was one of the very few hard-boiled and highly-experienced surveillance operatives to get called up to the secretive and elite Alpha Projects unit, starting with the interception and decoding of their phone calls.
Download or read book The Guv nors written by Dick Kirby and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2011-02-23 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ten Scotland Yard detectives, featured in The Guvnors, are unique. Such a group of intrepid crime-busters will never exist again. They possessed only the most rudimentary education; none had a degree. Intuition and knowledge of their manor counted for more than DNA and databases. They worked tirelessly in the pursuit of criminals, used informants, worked on hunches and grabbed hold of investigations and shook them until every piece of evidence was unearthed. Criminals trembled when these detectives were after them because, once they were nicked, they stayed nicked.The Guvnors covers legends such as Fred Wensley, who nailed strips of bicycle tyres to the soles of his boots when on the look-out for Jack the Ripper. He later formed the Flying Squad and became chief constable of the CID. Fred Sharpe would single-handedly confront forty of the worst racetrack gangsters and tell them to clear off, anyone who refused would collect a punch on the jaw. Sharpe later became head of the Flying Squad, as did Bob Fabian, who was awarded the Kings Police Medal for dismantling an IRA bomb.Bert Wickstead, known as The Gangbuster, literally terrorised the gangs who attempted to fill the void in Londons East End, after the demise of the Kray bothers.This is a book which will delight those who want to know what life was like when The Guvnors and others like them were in charge of law and order and the streets were far safer than they are today.
