Great and Horrible News
Murder and Mayhem in Early Modern Britain
$21.24
- Paperback
304 pages
- Release Date
16 October 2024
Summary
‘Grimly fascinating … engrossing’
NINE HISTORIC CRIMES. ONE FAMILIAR OBSESSION.
In early modern England, murder truly was most foul. Trials were gossipy events packed to the rafters with noisome spectators. Executions were public proceedings which promised not only gore, but desperate confessions and the grandest, most righteous human drama. Bookshops saw grisly stories of crime and death sell like hot cakes.
This history unfolds the t…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780008500269 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0008500266 |
| Author: | Blessin Adams |
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Imprint: | William Collins |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 304 |
| Release Date: | 16 October 2024 |
| Weight: | 220g |
| Dimensions: | 22mm x 129mm x 198mm |
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Critics Review
Praise for Great and Horrible News:
‘Grimly fascinating…vivid detail… The early moderns were obsessed by stories of death, crime and justice,’ Adams states in her introduction. Her book, which covers the two centuries between 1500 and 1700, proves her point with a succession of grisly but engrossing cases’ Daily Mail
‘A true crime treat from former police officer Blessin Adams. Great and Horrible News looks at what we can learn from early modern Britain when it comes to justice and criminality’ Janice Hallett
‘Bleakly fascinating … police investigator turned academic Blessin Adams explores nine historic crimes … stimulating non-fiction’ Independent, BEST BOOKS OF MARCH
‘This gory history of crime shows that our obsession with lurid podcasts is nothing new … Adams, a police officer turned historian, has poured over coroners’ inquest records, court documents, pamphlets, newspaper articles, parish archives, ballads, wills, letters and diaries to restage nine grim stories of crime in England between 1500 and 1700. As an ex-copper, Adams is greatly interested in developments in forensic pathology in this period, which are superbly reconstructed from the sources’ The Times
‘Perfect for fans of true-crime, this is a bone-chilling and brilliantly researched account of murder, cruelty, and scandal in Tudor and Stuart Britain. I couldn’t put it down, but I sincerely regret reading it alone in the countryside. A fantastic debut’ Gareth Russell, author of Young and Damned and Fair
‘At once an intriguing true crime examination of historical crime and a sociological dive into Britain’s history, Adams does a stellar job of introducing a nonet of little-known crimes, running the gamut from suicide to child abuse to murder, that while not for the faint of heart, quickly become engrossing to read’ Set the Tape
Blessin Adams
Blessin Adams traded police work investigating today’s crime in the Norfolk Constabulary for academia, tracing the lives and deaths of people in early modern England. Blessin received her doctorate following research in early modern English law and literature at the University of East Anglia. As a fan of true crime she is fascinated by historical stories of murder and justice. She lives in Norfolk with her husband and two dogs, and is a beekeeper in her spare time.
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