The road to Tyburn - Christopher Hibbert

Jack Sheppard, glamorous rebel, daring escapee and idol of the London mob, was one of the most legendary criminals of 18th-century England. When he finally met his end and was hanged in 1724, weeping girls and thronging crowds lined the road to the gallows at Tyburn.;In uncovering Jack Sheppard's enthralling story, lively and prolific historian Christopher Hibbert has drawn on contemporary newspapers, pamphlets and trial reports. He reveals a wild, dissolute, extravagant character, who, although he drank to excess, frequented the beds of prostitutes and was the "greatest prison breaker in the annals of this country", also proved to be a man of great intelligence, wit and charm. Yet this is more than the story of one individual. It also takes us on a fascinating tour through the murky underworld of 18th-century London: a grim jungle of brothels, gin cellars, gaming dens and doss-houses. We are introduced to a rogues' gallery of drunkards, pickpockets, kidnappers and murderers as well as the most notorious characters of the time, including corrupt City Marshal Charles Hitchen and machiavellian thief-taker Jonathan Wild.