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.
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