Dr John H. Watson writes in September 1917: 'Holmes and I sat in companiable silence for some time after we finished our excellent meal at Simpson's in the Strand. The Beef Wellington, named in honour of our greatest ever military man, was sublime.' On 22nd May 1859, Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, to Charles, a chronically addicted alcoholic, and Mary who was fond of books and a wonderful storyteller. He was later to tell a firm friend Bram Stoker that he produced and illustrated his first book of adventures at the age of six. March 1886 was significant as this is when he began writing 'A Study In Scarlet' which introduced the world to Sherlock Holmes and John Watson courtesy of Beeton's Christmas Annual. We may have been introduced to the magic of the greatest of English detectives by reading the books or seeing the hundreds of films and TV shows. Now this unique book offers a detailed itinerary or actually 'walking' Sherlock Holmes beginning of course at Baker Street. The series of walks takes in the well-known as well as the more obscure locations of London, plus a gallery of unforgettable characters, and each walk details location and the story in which it features. Associated literary and historical information, social interest and events in Conan Doyle's life are added. A chapter then explores Holmes' adventures in the rest of the UK and 45 black and white original photographs accompany the text. We walk along Northumberland Avenue, up the Strand, Fleet Street and on to St Paul's, Oxford and Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus and into the Haymarket, Holborn and Covent Garden, Westminster and Victoria, Trafalgar Square, Pall Mall and Mayfair and the City and the East End. There is a timeline of stories and notable actors who have played Holmes over the years. 141pp, many maps.

We may well have heard of the Mastersons and Earps, but what about the Rangers, Sheriffs and other lawmakers in the early American West during its 19th century heyday? 'Treadwell starts with the first US Marshal, Robert Forsyth, who was also the first to die in service and then Colonel Charles Lynch who gave his name to extra-judicial punishment. One of the most famous and intimidating lawmen was 'Wild Bill' Hickok who was far from the upstanding citizen of popular culture. The town of Tombstone features in a group of tales involving various Earp brothers including Wyatt. Other famous names include Pat Garrett and Bat Masterson, Tom Smith, William Breakenridge, former slaves Bass Reeves and Grant Johnson, and the wonderfully named John Slaughter. There were Marshals, City Marshals, Constables, and County Sheriffs elected by citizens to keep the peace within the county. There were also the Texas Rangers and Arizona Rangers who operated under the jurisdiction of their respective State Governors and later US Marshals who were appointed by the President of the United States and had the authority to operate anywhere in the USA and deal with federal crime. These lawmen had to deal with the likes of the Dalton Gang, the James Brothers and the Rufus Buck Gang who thought nothing of raping and murdering innocent people just for the hell of it. These outlaws would frequently hide in Indian Territory where there was no law to extradite them. There Judge Isacc Parker administered the rules with an iron fist - the gallows at Fort Smith laid testament to his work. Peace in the Wild West was often determined only by the individual's skill with a gun and their courage. 246pp, many historical photos.

Since 15th April 1933, the names of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow took on a whole new meaning. Instead of being portrayed through bland police mug-shots, the young couple aged just 22 and 24 kissing, hugging, posing with guns and in the stolen Ford Sedan which Clyde knew how to drive and which made the fastest getaway cars, the fashionably dressed young Bonnie is seen holding pistols, cigars and cigarettes. In different outfits and posed on different days in front of various stolen cars with switched number plates in relaxed photographs taken by their young friend W. D. Jones 'She kept on make-up and had her hair combed all the time... She was a tiny little thing. I reckon she never weighed more than 100lbs, even after a big meal.' Stick ups, shoot outs, robberies from gas stations and grocery stores, Bonnie and Clyde were the product of the Depression years when a crime wave, fuelled by Prohibition, gripped the United States. The Barrow Gang, whose hangers-on changed frequently, lived by robbing banks, stealing cars and Clyde personally participated in 10 of the 12 murders of which the gang is accused, and he most probably personally pulled the trigger on seven people. Once he had blood on his hands there was no going back, yet Clyde's miraculous escapes from police road-blocks and at least nine pitched gun-battles earned him a reputation of invincibility. Only through the betrayal of a former gang member were he and his lover Bonnie gunned down in a carefully staged ambush to bring to an end their two-year crime spree. This huge publication revisits the scenes of all their known and proven crimes across 500,000 miles of American Midwest and Southwest presented with this publisher's usual 'Then and Now' format. 70 years on we picture the locations of the robberies and shoot outs and seek out the graves of those who died at the hands of the inseparable young lovers. We are taken from the Roaring Twenties and the first crimes in Denton Texas in 1929 right through to the ambush on May 23rd 1934 and the funerals. 304 huge pages, 30.5 x 21.6cm. Hundreds of photos on glossy paper.
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The United Kingdom's parliamentary seats have long been inherently dangerous and those who have held them over the centuries have risked physical injury from irate monarchs, vexed colleagues, disgruntled soldiers, angry mobs and aggrieved activists. They have endured imprisonment for their parliamentary activity, duels arising out of debate, brawls on the floor, forcible removals from the chamber, personal assaults on the streets. At least 21 parliamentarians have died as a result. There is a reason Guy Fawkes's attempt to blow up Westminster Palace in 1605 is remembered every 5th November. A savage attack on Sir John Coventry from an impertinent 1670 Commons allusion to the king's mistresses prompted a change to the penal code that endured over a century. Threats to seat holders have prompted the expansion of parliamentary privilege and changes to institutional procedure, legislation, public policy and popular opinion. Political controversies serve as a window into the development of the parliamentary system over the past 700 years. Also represented here are members of the two institutions absorbed into it (the pre-1707 Scottish and pre-1800 Irish Parliaments) and one devolved from it, Stormont. Together, they tell a fascinating tale. Read about the duel between cabinet colleagues George Canning and Viscount Castlereagh in 1809 and Lady Astor in 1930 pulling the coat tails of a colleague to prevent him from rising to speak and then shaking her fist at him in mock indignation. Equally hazardous could be the Sovereign's Speech at the Opening of Parliament. Under Elizabeth I, some MPs sought to squeeze themselves 'with great thrusting' into the crowded space behind the bar in the House of Lords. And in June 2012, Labour MP Austin Mitchell allowed a fishmonger to hit him in the face with a fresh cod! (To raise money for charity). 384pp, eight pages of riotous and riotously funny lampooning cartoons and contemporary images.

Medieval society was rigid in its control over people, from the peasant who was practically owned by the lord of the manor, to the nobleman and even the king who all had serious restrictions and obligations. And for women of all social classes as well there was little opportunity for improvement in whatever situation they were placed in. This book looks at some of those who did not fit easily into the model their society dictated. Some were rebels, some eccentrics, some downright villains and manipulators. The tale of a dedicated hermit browbeaten into becoming pope contrasts with a monk who took to outlawry and piracy, and the many marauders who were despoiled or harmed as they went, often according to whomever licensed them to do to. We discover an intelligent young widow forced to support her family as a professional writer when most women were even denied a basic education in a gentler tale. From Vlad the Impaler and Tomas de Torquemada to Eustace the Monk and Reynald of Châtillon, some figures from the Middle Ages stand out and their stories simply beg to be told. These mini biographies are remarkable. Spanning the Norman Conquest and the Hundred Years War, the Wars of the Roses and the beginnings of European discovery of the wider world, these colourful stories bring to life different aspects of society, such as chivalry, peasant revolts, crusading, heresy, sorcery and philosophy. 16 pages of colour and other photos and maps and a beautiful frontispiece of the Psalter depicting and early Wheel of Fortune c.1240. 320pp.

Britain's Traitors, Spies and Killers 1914-1918. The scale of battlefield slaughter in the Great War makes us forget that the processes of criminal trial and execution continued at home throughout the period. This fascinating book is an account of capital punishment during WWI, with details of the trials and executions of over 30 murderers and traitors. Chapters on the public hangmen consider their training and methods, including John Ellis who took his own life shortly after retiring as chief executioner in 1924. Between 1900 and 1964 there was one execution on average every two or three weeks, and during the period covered by this book the average was one every month. The author starts with razors as a murder weapon and goes through murder methods including the axe, poker, gun, knife and beating. 71-year old Charles Frembd killed his wife with a razor, probably under the influence of Alzheimer's, but insisted he was of sound mind which together with the fact that he was German led to his death sentence. The Bloomsbury Mystery was a poker murder involving the dismembered body of Emelienne Gerard whose lover was a butcher. The famous pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury was called in, but in the years following the execution a question arose as to whether the butcher's imprisoned accomplice Bertha Roche might have been the actual killer. Spilsbury was also instrumental in convicting George Smith, the Brides in the Bath murderer, demonstrating to the jury how it was possible to kill someone in only a few inches of water. Smith hurled abuse at witnesses and finally admitted that he was "a bit peculiar", though denying murder. Another famous trial was that of Sir Roger Casement, an English diplomat who collaborated with the Germans to eject the English from Ireland in the cause of Irish nationalism. John Ellis said Casement met his death more bravely than any other condemned man. 174pp, photos.

The centre of Britain's codebreaking operation was located at Bletchley Park where a hastily assembled army of codebreakers battled to decipher Germany's secret wartime communications. A motley collection of linguists, mathematicians and crossword enthusiasts pitted their combined wits against the 'unbreakable' naval Enigma codes and Lorenz ciphers used by Hitler and the German High Command. They deciphered high-level signals intelligence disseminated to military commanders was known as Ultra, and had a major influence on the outcome of the war and success in the battle for the Atlantic. British interest in codes and ciphers stretches back to the court of Elizabeth I and her spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. The book traces the history of the school established by him in the 1570s to the work of the Secret Office of the Post Office in the 18th century to the creation of the Government Code and Cipher School in 1919. The exploits of the two World Wars form a major aspect of the story and include the achievements of the Admiralty's Room 40 and the infamous Zimmermann Telegram, the contribution made by Alan Turing and his ground-breaking work into computing, and a brief overview of post-war developments and the importance of signals intelligence in the Cold War. 132 page extra large softback, many illus.

Four women convicted of murder in the late 19th and 20th centuries come under the forensic scrutiny of former lawyer Stephen Jakobi, who looks at newly discovered evidence surrounding their trials and asks whether each of them could be a serial killer linked with other unsolved murders. Agnes Norman was a nursery maid sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for the attempted murder of 10-year-old Charles Parfitt, but she was acquitted of the death of Jesse Jane Beer, even though her trial brought to light startling new evidence from other employers. The deaths of four infants in her care between 1869 - 1871 is compellingly circumstantial, but although experts demonstrated that Jesse had been suffocated, it was impossible to prove that the death was not accidental. Agnes's residence with these employers also saw the deaths of three dogs, three cats, 19 pet birds and numerous goldfish. Louie Calvert in West Yorkshire had a career as a petty criminal before she murdered her employer William Frobisher, followed four years later by the murder of her housemate Lily Waterhouse. Jakobi makes a strong case for Calvert as also being the murderer of Florence Hargreaves, an unsolved case. Kate Webster started in petty crime and in 1879 went as a cook to Mrs Thomas of Richmond. Soon afterwards Webster was seen dressed in her employer's clothes and asked an acquaintance to help her with carrying a heavy bag, which subsequently turned out to contain body parts. The author speculates that Kate, who had numerous aliases, may have been the unidentified Thames Torso murderer of a few years earlier. Finally "Mrs Willis" had numerous identities but her murders as a baby farmer in 1907 led to her execution later that year. 147pp, paperback, photos.

The lives of notorious offenders have been sensationalised for an enthusiastic and hungry audience for centuries and it is from such books as The Newgate Calendar of 1774 and The Criminal Recorder of 1804 that people have gained an understanding of crime and of the criminal underworld. For many of the medieval and early modern outlaws who are featured in this book much of what we know of their lives comes not from trial reports, but from ballads and pamphlets printed after their deaths. The 11 chapters each features a notorious criminal beginning with Robin Hood 'That celebrated English outlaw', Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and William of Cloudeslie, three outlaw archers who rivalled Robin Hood in their fame and popularity and whose tales were first printed in 1536. The forest in outlaw ballads is envisaged in a place where men are free, and an environment in which food is plentiful. Other chapters cover the highwaymen Gamaliel Ratsey, Captain James Hind and Claude du Vall, and Sawney Beane, Rob Roy, Jack Sheppard, Jonathan Wild London's first mob boss, Dick Turpin the knight of the road, and Sir William Dodd, the rogue clergyman. There is also an appendix detailing an account of the life of Bulla Felix, the Roman Robin Hood who was perhaps the first 'good outlaw'. 143 page large softback.

A young woman's fight to bring her rapist to justice was even more problematic in 1793 Manhattan than it is today. This gripping true-crime narrative tells the story of 17-year-old seamstress Lanah Sawyer, who had been walking out with a young man posing under a pseudonym who was in fact the notorious seducer Harry Bedlow. One evening as it grew dark Harry took Lanah to an alley of brothels, forcing her into the establishment of Mother Carey, although Carey initially tried to resist, perhaps realising that Lanah was a respectable girl. Harry persisted and in spite of Lanah's repeated refusal to consent to sex, he raped her, leaving her clothes torn and bloodstained. The following day Lanah remained at the house while she mended her clothes, treating Mother Carey scornfully, then went to a friend's to get her help with breaking the story to her stepfather. John Callanan was a man of spirit who believed in his step-daughter, and together they brought a criminal case against Bedlow. The author, a professor of history, has researched the trial fully and gives a detailed account of the claims and counter-claims. The defence rested their main case on the claim that Lanah had herself visited Mother Carey's brothel looking for Harry the day before. Although the prosecution was able to establish that Lanah had been occupied in visits that left her no time to detour via the brothel, the ultimate decision of the jury was that Bedlow was Not Guilty. Lanah and her stepfather were not willing to give up, although Lanah made a suicide attempt that was intercepted. Public opinion ran in Lanah's favour, with articles and protests in the press from women who were starting the movement for women's rights. One defender, with the pseudonym Justitia, controversially proclaimed that "There is no natural difference in the intellectual faculties of the two sexes." When John Callanan brought a civil case for defamation of character, Bedlow had to pay crippling damages. Meanwhile letters had surfaced, handled by Bedlow's celebrated attorney Alexander Hamilton, which purported to be Lanah's confession of lying in court, but they were widely regarded as forgeries. 365pp, colour reproductions. Remainder mark.