Con Men and Cutpurses: Scenes from the Hogarthian Underworld
By (Author) Lucy Moore
Penguin Books Ltd
Penguin Classics
5th August 2004
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
364.30942109033
Paperback
336
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 19mm
247g
An enthralling anthology of 18th-century writings that gives a fascinating insight into the dreadful misdeeds of - and the horrible punishments meeted out to - an array of rogues and criminals, from murderers and swindlers to prostitutes and pirates. Captured in memoirs, letters, ballads and court transcripts are some of the most colourful villains ever to take their last gasp at the hangman's noose, including daring thief Jack Sheppherd, highwayman Dick Turpin and ingenious pickpocket Jenny Diver. Taking us from the backstreets and brothels to Newgate prison and the gallows at Tyburn, this anthology reveals London's murky underworld in all its squalor and exuberance.
Lucy Moore is a freelance historian. She is the author of The Thieves' Opera and a biography of Lord Hervey, Amphibious Thing, both published by Viking.