Ultimate Hard Bastards: The Truth About the Toughest Men in the World [Paperback]

Some years ago I was having a serious chat with my youngest son who, at 14, was at that awkward time of life that all teenagers face. At one point he suggested I was a hard man and I instantly corrected him. I remember telling him that I had served with some really hard men in the Parachute Regiment and SAS and, whilst I might be regarded by some as a tough old nut, I was not and never would be a hard man. Now that I have read this book I know how right I was!

This work is a brief description of 47 of the hardest men who ever drew breath and, although written by a Lady, she is someone with exactly the right credentials for such an undertaking having once been married to a man she describes in the dedication as "The hardest Bastard Britain has ever known." Her name is Kate Kray and her former husband was no less a person than Ronnie Kray who died in 1995.

In order to produce this immensely readable work, Miss Kray personally tracked down each of the men she wanted to include and interviewed them all on their home turf. In a most curious way, we are spared the life history - warts and all exposé of each subject in favour of a short biopic from which we get exactly the right amount of minimal information to allow the reader to gain an insight into each individual. The format is similar for each entry. Beginning with a brief description of the author's meeting with the subject and his background, we find a small box revealing his date of birth, star sign and occupation before moving onto their response to a set number of topics; Their life of crime (if any!), views on prison as a deterrent, capital punishment, what would have deterred them from crime, have they ever been shot or stabbed, their scariest and saddest moments, what rattles their cage, have they ever been in love, their own definition of a hard man, who they regard as a hard man, someone they admire, their life in 5 years time and, perhaps most poignant of all "Any regrets?" It really is fascinating reading.

Of all those who are included I had only ever heard of two; Charlie Bronson - described as "the most dangerous prisoner in the penal system" and Glenn Ross - that popular figure from Bangor, Co. Down who was in training for "The World's Strongest Man" competition when this book was written. Just to avoid confusion, Glenn Ross is not the only person covered by this book who has no criminal background or convictions. None whatsoever.

The elements of this book which surprised me most were how addictively readable it became just as soon as I picked it up, the brevity with which Miss Kray portrays each man without omitting anything important and how very ordinary some of these people really are - although their lives are all far from ordinary.

I am not an authority on hard men although I came to the view many years ago that `real' hard men are born and not created by hard work in the gym. In short, either you were given the raw materials or you were not. In the case of these 47 men I honestly believe Miss Kray has got it right and I wouldn't tangle with the oldest (now in his seventies) were I still in my prime. On the cover of my copy is an expressionless facial shot of Roy Shaw - and even that reinforces the very content because he looks exactly who and what he is. Whilst there are one or two surprise inclusions, the author has carefully considered each `contender' for a place in this book and, in so doing, must have dismissed several who did not quite come up to the mark.

Altogether, a well written and easy-to-read work which provides many a surprising insight into how a small number of men - all of whom are from very different backgrounds, live (or have lived) their lives.

NM

Got to say this book is a really good book deffo worth the money and time u will spend reading it

I originally bought this book for my boyfriend as a present, and ended up reading it for myself. I did enjoy some of the stories because they reminded a dying breed of criminal. I would recommend this book to a small number of people but overall I didn't find it as appealing as I thought it would be, it's more one for the boys.