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 Soho on Screen written by Jingan Young and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2022-05-13 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No detailed description available for "Soho on Screen".

Download or read book Bent written by Joe Thomas and published by Arcadia Books. This book was released on 2020-04-30 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guardian Best Book of 2020 Irish Times Best Crime Fiction of 2020 Times Book of the Month Mail on Sunday Thriller of the Month The Spectator Crime Fiction of the Month Crime Time Book of the Year 2020 'Vivid, stylish, funny' Mick Heron The first time I met Harold Challenor, he frisked me for weapons - I was ten years old. Bent is the explosive story of the rise and fall of SAS commando, and notorious Detective Sergeant, Harold 'Tanky' Challenor. During the Second World War, Challenor was parachuted behind enemy lines into Italy and France, performing remarkable feats of bravery. In the grimy underbelly of 1960s Soho, he was a ferocious and controversial presence, mediating between factions of club owners and racketeers, and cultivating informers. But just how far will he go to break the protection gang that has a grip on his manor? It can be a fine line that divides hero and villain. PRAISE FOR JOE THOMAS 'Brilliant' The Times 'Feverish energy' Guardian 'Wonderfully vivid' Mail on Sunday 'Sophisticated, dizzying' GQ 'Vivid and visceral' The Times 'Superbly realised vivid and atmospheric' Guardian 'Original' Mail on Sunday 'A stylish, atmospheric treat an inspired blend of David Peace and early Pinter' Irish Times 'Sparse, energetic, fragmented prose' The Spectator 'Vibrant, colourful, and complex' Irish Independent 'Stylish, sharp-witted, taut. A must for modern noir fans' NB Magazine 'Definitive confident and energetic' Crime Time 'Brilliant manic energy' Jake Arnott 'Wildly stylish and hugely entertaining' Lucy Caldwell 'Vivid, stylish, funny' Mick Herron 'Gripping, fast-paced, darkly atmospheric' Susanna Jones 'Snappy, thoughtful, moving' John King 'Exciting, fresh, incredibly assured' Stav Sherez 'Happy days!' Mark Timlin 'Utterly brilliant' Cathi Unsworth 'Had James Ellroy and David Peace collaborated on a novel they'd have written something like this' Paul Willets

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 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 Populism on Trial written by Inigo Bing and published by Biteback Publishing. This book was released on 2020-08-27 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a Britain that is becoming increasingly fractious and intolerant, the responsibility for upholding the values of broadmindedness, pluralism and individual freedom is passing from the politicians to the judges. But the bonds of trust that bind people to their institutions are breaking down, and the values underpinning judicial law-making are now under threat from a new populism. Using vivid examples from the fall-out from Brexit, the threat to parliamentary democracy, the impact of terrorism and austerity and the actions of politicians trying to prevent judicial oversight of ministerial power, this book warns that the rule of law is a fragile ingredient of democracy which may too easily become side-lined unless it is vigorously upheld. Inigo Bing has spent his life in the law, first as a barrister and then as a judge, and has observed first-hand how values once regarded as sacred are now at risk from a new form of anger-driven and distrustful politics.

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 Ringolevio written by Emmett Grogan and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2008-10-14 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ringolevio is a classic American story of self-invention by one of the more mysterious and alluring figures to emerge in the 1960s. Emmett Grogan grew up on New York City’s mean streets, getting hooked on heroin before he was in his teens, kicking the habit and winning a scholarship to a swanky Manhattan private school, pursuing a highly profitable sideline as a Park Avenue burglar, then skipping town to enjoy the dolce vita in Italy. It’s a hard-boiled, sometimes hard-to-believe, wildly entertaining tale that takes a totally unexpected turn when Grogan washes up in sixties San Francisco and becomes a leader of the anarchist group known as the Diggers. The Diggers, devoted to street theater, direct action, and distributing free food, were in the thick of the legendary Summer of Love, and soon Grogan is struggling with the naive narcissism of the hippies, the marketing of revolution as a brand, dogmatic radicals, and false prophets like tripster Timothy Leary. Above all, however, he struggles with himself. Ringolevio is an enigmatic portrait of a man and his times to set beside Hunter S. Thompson’s stories of fear and loathing, Norman Mailer’s The Armies of the Night, or the recent Chronicles of Bob Dylan, who dedicated his 1978 album Street Legal to the memory of Emmett Grogan.

Download or read book Scotland Yard s Murder Squad written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword True Crime. This book was released on 2020-07-30 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1906 the Metropolitan Police Commissioner was asked by the Home Office to make available skilled investigators for murder inquiries nationwide as few constabularies had sufficiently skilled – or indeed, any - detectives. Thus was born the Reserve Squad, or Murder Squad, as it later became known. Despite a reluctance by some forces to call upon The Met, the Murder Squad has proved its effectiveness on countless occasions with its remit extended to British territories overseas. A particularly sensitive case was the murder of a local superintendent on St Kitts and Nevis. A former Scotland Yard detective, the author uses his contacts and experiences to get the inside track on a gruesome collection of infamous cases. Child murderers, a Peer’s butler, a King’s housekeeper, gangsters, jealous spouses and the notorious mass murderer Dr Bodkin Adams compete for space in this spine-chilling and gripping book which is testament to the Murder Squad’s skills and ingenuity - and the evil of the perpetrators. Brimming with gruesome killings, this highly readable book proves that there is no substitute for old fashioned footwork and instinct.

Download or read book Laid Bare written by Dick Kirby and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2016-09-05 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE KILLER had a detailed knowledge of the alleyways and deserted places where the bodies were dumped.THE KILLER must have somehow gained the confidence of the girls who entered his car thinking they were safe with him.THE KILLER was obviously a resourceful man who must have acted quickly and cleverly under personal stress, particularly at times when perhaps minutes counted to avoid detection.THE KILLER seemed to have been aware of the master plan to check on every vehicle in the killing area.Between 1959 and 1965, eight murders were carried out in and around west London. The victims, all of whom were prostitutes, were asphyxiated. The murders were linked: the last six were all carried out in the space of twelve months. The press dubbed the murdered 'Jack the Stripper' on account of the fact that the victims were all stripped naked. The legendary Scotland Yard investigator Detective Chief Superintendent John Du Rose was brought in to orchestrate the enquiry. Du Rose flooded the night-time capital with police officers in plain clothes, and women police officers dressed as prostitutes to carry out dangerous decoy patrols. Of the 1,7000 potential suspects interviewed, the number was whittled down to twenty-six, and eventually to one. But before Du Rose could interview him, the mean committed suicide and the case was closed down. Was this man 'Jack the Stripper'?Dick Kirby, a former Flying Squad detective, has used his vast experience and contacts at Scotland Yard to re-examine the case, more commonly known as 'The Nude Murders', fifty years on.

Download or read book London s Working Class Youth and the Making of Post Victorian Britain 1958 1971 written by Felix Fuhg and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-05-20 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the emergence of modern working-class youth culture through the perspective of an urban history of post-war Britain, with a particular focus on the influence of young people and their culture on Britain’s self-image as a country emerging from the constraints of its post-Victorian, imperial past. Each section of the book – Society, City, Pop, and Space – considers in detail the ways in which working-class youth culture corresponded with a fast-changing metropolitan and urban society in the years following the decline of the British Empire. Was teenage culture rooted in the urban experience and the transformation of working-class neighbourhoods? Did youth subcultures emerge simply as a reaction to Britain's changing racial demographic? To what extent did leisure venues and institutions function as laboratories for a developing British pop culture, which ultimately helped Britain re-establish its prominence on the world stage? These questions and more are answered in this book.

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 Stonehouse written by Julian Hayes and published by Robinson. This book was released on 2021-07-22 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story behind the 2023 ITV series, STONEHOUSE, starring Matthew Macfayden and Keeley Hawes. 'An extraordinary life . . . a vivid account' Telegraph 'Completely absorbing' CAROL ANN LEE, author of The Murders at White House Farm and A Passion For Poison 'I literally consumed the book in just a few hungry sittings . . . most definitely a must read' DR SALEYHA AHSAN, filmmaker and journalist, Cambridge In November 1974, British MP and former cabinet minister John Stonehouse walked into the sea off a beach in Miami and disappeared, seemingly drowned. Then he was found - on the other side of the world, in Australia - and his extraordinary story began to come to light: a Labour cabinet minister and a devoted family man; also in a long-term affair with his secretary, and a spy for the Czech State Security agency, who had committed fraud and attempted to fake his own death to escape catastrophic business failures. Was it a mental breakdown as he later claimed? Or were there more sinister reasons for his dramatic disappearance? This is the definitive biography of Stonehouse, written by Julian Hayes, who, as the son of Stonehouse's nephew and lawyer, Michael Hayes, is uniquely placed to tell the story of this charismatic but deeply flawed politician.

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 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 Missing Presumed Murdered written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword True Crime. This book was released on 2022-02-03 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A former Scotland Yard detective examines real cases of murder in which accused criminals were convicted without a body found. Murders in any form, and the more gruesome the better, hold a morbid fascination to the British public but never more so than when the bodies of the victims are never found. Aside from the lack of closure for relatives and friends, this factor creates problems for police and prosecutors and has macabre appeal for the public. Muriel McKay, wife of a senior News of the World Executive was kidnapped in 1969. Although her body, believed to have been fed to pigs, was never found, the perpetrators were convicted. The same fate was suffered by the business partner of a Polish farmer. James Camb murdered a glamorous actress feeding her to sharks but this did not stop women flocking to see him in court. John Haigh confessed to disposing of his nine victims in acid. Again, his trial was a sell-out. Dick Kirby, former Scotland Yard detective turned best-selling crime writer has ‘unearthed’ a fascinating collection of disappearances such as the dismemberment of a gay man’s wife who had threatened to expose him in the 1950s. Later, when a woman’s head was discovered near his home, he confessed only to find that it dated from Roman times. These and numerous other cases make Missing, Presumed Murdered a riveting, if grisly, read.

Download or read book Scotland Yard s Casebook of Serious Crime written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword True Crime. This book was released on 2021-06-23 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Real-life stories of cops vs. criminals from a veteran of the Metropolitan Police and author praised for his “engaging style” (Joseph Wambaugh, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Harbor Nocturne). Dick Kirby, former long-serving Met officer and bestselling author, recounts the policing of the twentieth century, when uniformed officers were visibly part of the community, patrolling their beats and protecting the public’s property. Detectives detected, cultivating informants and, like their uniform counterparts, knowing the characters on their manor. What’s more, they were backed by their senior officers, who had on-the-job experience. Drawing on both celebrated and lesser known cases, Kirby describes in plain speak crime-fighting against merciless gangsters, desperate gunmen, inept kidnappers, vicious robbers, daring burglars, and ruthless blackmailers. Using his firsthand knowledge, he highlights the often-unconventional methods used to frustrate and outwit hardened criminals—and the satisfaction gained from successful operations. Praise for Dick Kirby’s previous books “A gritty series of episodes from his time in the Met—laced with black humor and humanity.” —East Anglian Daily Times “A great read with fascinating stories and amusing anecdotes.” —Suffolk Norfolk Life Magazine