Whibley makes the case that a masterly thief deserves to be judged as an artist, then sketches a gallery of highwaymen, pickpockets and thief-takers. Captain Hind, Moll Cutpurse, Jonathan Wild, Gilderoy, Sixteen-String Jack, Jack Sheppard and the French bandit Cartouche are among them, often set side by side in comparative ‘parallels’.
A witty, ironic essayist’s portrait of the criminal underworld, for lovers of the Newgate Calendar and its legends. Download the free EPUB.