A History of British Serial Killing
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Book Description
* The definitive history of British serial killing 1888-2008 - by the UK's leading expert
Product Description
In this fascinating and informative new book, Professor David Wilson tells the stories of Britain's serial killers from Jack the Ripper to the extraordinary Suffolk Murders case. David Wilson has worked as a Prison Governor and as a profiler, and has been described as the UK's leading expert on serial killers. His work has led him to meet several of the UK's deadliest killers, and build up fascinating insights into what makes a serial killer - and who they are most likely to target. A vivid narrative history and a timely call for prison and social reform, Professor Wilson's new book is a powerful and gripping investigation of Britain's serial murderers.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Although there are plenty of books about serial killers, this one aims to be different by concentrating on victims, not killers. This is to be applauded, but I am afraid that it could have been somewhat sharper in its execution. There is also some interesting analysis on serial killing, too. For those who are new to the subject, this will be informative, but even old hands should benefit from it too.
It begins chronologically, with accounts of the Ripper, then Cream, Chapman and Smith, then Haigh, Christie and Manuel, then decides to produce victim focussed chapters; prostitutes, the very young, the very old, homosexuals. No obvious reason for this change in emphasis.
The author, despite his intention to avoid the pitfalls of others, spends a few pages on the guess the Ripper game, and though this is done sensibly, it doesn't really add anything and goes against what he claims he is aiming to do.
His wider historical comments are not always accurate - Britain didn't grind to a halt in 1926 and there were women on the electoral registers prior to 1918.
Some of the chapters are solely based on secondary sources and these are not always factually sound - especially chapter four.
The author states that information on victims is not collected - he should read police files on murders located at the National Archives, where such information is available - also newspaper accounts. For a victim focussed book it is odd that victims of Jack the Stripper are excluded and there is no obvious reason for this.
Although the author says he isn't interested in killers but victims, we often learn more about the former than the latter, as in the case of Haigh - interesting as it is.
Finally, I am afraid I am someone who believes that individuals kill, not society, so was out of sympathy with the major thesis (constantly repeated in case the message isn't clear), whilst agreeing that victims tend to fall within the vulnerable groups identified here (on the whole). The link between society and murders isn't made clear, except at a generalised level, and as this is the book's thesis, this could have been made more explicit. The thesis of social deprivation, though, doesn't always hold water - why no serial killers in the depressed regions in the 1920s/30s, whereas the only serial killer at this time was from a prosperous suburb? Her victims aren't featured here, incidentally.
A rather tighter product could have come from all this.
It begins chronologically, with accounts of the Ripper, then Cream, Chapman and Smith, then Haigh, Christie and Manuel, then decides to produce victim focussed chapters; prostitutes, the very young, the very old, homosexuals. No obvious reason for this change in emphasis.
The author, despite his intention to avoid the pitfalls of others, spends a few pages on the guess the Ripper game, and though this is done sensibly, it doesn't really add anything and goes against what he claims he is aiming to do.
His wider historical comments are not always accurate - Britain didn't grind to a halt in 1926 and there were women on the electoral registers prior to 1918.
Some of the chapters are solely based on secondary sources and these are not always factually sound - especially chapter four.
The author states that information on victims is not collected - he should read police files on murders located at the National Archives, where such information is available - also newspaper accounts. For a victim focussed book it is odd that victims of Jack the Stripper are excluded and there is no obvious reason for this.
Although the author says he isn't interested in killers but victims, we often learn more about the former than the latter, as in the case of Haigh - interesting as it is.
Finally, I am afraid I am someone who believes that individuals kill, not society, so was out of sympathy with the major thesis (constantly repeated in case the message isn't clear), whilst agreeing that victims tend to fall within the vulnerable groups identified here (on the whole). The link between society and murders isn't made clear, except at a generalised level, and as this is the book's thesis, this could have been made more explicit. The thesis of social deprivation, though, doesn't always hold water - why no serial killers in the depressed regions in the 1920s/30s, whereas the only serial killer at this time was from a prosperous suburb? Her victims aren't featured here, incidentally.
A rather tighter product could have come from all this.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is different from the norm, in that it sets out to tell the story of British serial killings as opposed to the killers themselves, the aim being to focus on the victims rather than the perpetrators. A laudable attempt is made to achieve this aim, although, as the writer acknowledges, it is much harder to access their life stories than those of their killers.
Where Mr Wilson lets himself down is with a very obvious, and, towards the latter end of the book, rather predictable, anti-police bias, which I found surprising in a former prison governor. Some of the criticism is justified, the nine interviews of Peter Sutcliffe prior to arrest being a case in point. Some, however, is unfair. He finds fault with the failure to search Sutcliffe's garage and car, without redressing the balance by pointing out that there was no power to do so without a warrant. This underlying bias demeans what is otherwise an interesting and enlightening analysis.
Where Mr Wilson lets himself down is with a very obvious, and, towards the latter end of the book, rather predictable, anti-police bias, which I found surprising in a former prison governor. Some of the criticism is justified, the nine interviews of Peter Sutcliffe prior to arrest being a case in point. Some, however, is unfair. He finds fault with the failure to search Sutcliffe's garage and car, without redressing the balance by pointing out that there was no power to do so without a warrant. This underlying bias demeans what is otherwise an interesting and enlightening analysis.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent and very well-written, though profoundly disturbing, book and I most strongly recommend it. It shows where taking the victim's perspective can yield immense insight and should serve as a wake-up call to how we organize societies. I have only one reservation, which is not enough to lower its rating, and it has already been pointed out by another reviewer. Turf wars between police divisions over who has responsibility for a given investigation and who will get the most credit for solving it have bedeviled a number of serial murder investigations, such as the Belgian pedophile case. I was therefore surprised that such a thoughtful author seems to want to set up his own turf war between psychology and sociology. This came to me as unnatural and forced, rather like the arguments over which is most responsible for human behaviour genes or environment. Surely we should have moved on from such artificial dichotomies. None-the-less, it would prove very valuable reading for police, social workers and politicians.
Professor Frederick Toates
Professor Frederick Toates
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good Overview
I received this as a gift for Christmas, and read it straightaway.
This is a good book if you want an overview of crimes of the 20th Century and the kind of people the... Read more
This is a good book if you want an overview of crimes of the 20th Century and the kind of people the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. A. L. Maddocks
Insightful and give you something to think about..........!
An interesting book which, like most other reviers have pointed out, is from the view point of the victims, rather than the serial killers themselves. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Louise Roberts
The 'Structural' approach
David Wilson's account of the reasoning behind the murders of a British serial killer is starkly insightful, while fresh and intuitive his long history and personal encounters with... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ogilmour
thought-provoking
Its a book that makes you wonder what makes people tick and makes you ask yourself how can human beings murder others, even people that they've just met or don't know!
Y
Y
Published 10 months ago by Miss Lesley A. Jeffers
INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE READ
This was an enjoyable read, and covered new ground, and gave fresh perspectives on the crimes and the criminals that perpetuated these heinious crimes
I did think that there... Read more
I did think that there... Read more
Published 10 months ago by bibliophile
A comprehensive and accessible book on British Serial Killing
As a Masters student studying criminology, i was in a position of having to learn the history of serial killing in Britain in a very short period of time. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Latte-man
Definitive But Not Conclusive
David Wilson is well qualified to write about this subject. Prior to take up an academic post he was a prison governor and has experience understanding disruptive prisoners. Read more
Published on 11 April 2010 by Neutral
Very good
This book is a good read because it does not concentrate on the serial killer but the victimes. This makes it good because most books about serial killers concentrate on the killer... Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2010 by Sean Hughes
A Fantastic Read
I was given this book as a Christmas present and at first wasn't quite sure what to make of it. However this is a very well written book which really does extend our knowledge of... Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2010 by Mr. James T. Foster
Review of A History of British Serial Killing
David Wilson's A History of British Serial Killing has recounted the history of several of Britains known serial killers, from Jack the Ripper to Harold Shipman. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2009 by ELS Gronberg
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > True Crime
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Ireland
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
