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The Chieftain: Victorian True Crime through the Eyes of a Scotland Yard Detective
True crime stories from the early days of the Metropolitan Police Detective Branch capture the essence of Victorian crime
George Clarke joined the Metropolitan Police in 1841. Though a "slow starter," his career took off when he was transferred to the small team of detectives at Scotland Yard in 1862, where he became known as "The Chieftain." This book paints the most detailed picture yet published of detective work in mid-Victorian Britain, covering "murders most foul," "slums and Society," the emergence of terrorism related to Ireland, and Victorian frauds. One particular fraudster, Harry Benson, was to contribute to the end of Clarke's career and lead to the first major Metropolitan Police corruption trial in 1877. This fascinating book uses widespread sources of information, including many of Clarke's own case reports.
George Clarke joined the Metropolitan Police in 1841. Though a "slow starter," his career took off when he was transferred to the small team of detectives at Scotland Yard in 1862, where he became known as "The Chieftain." This book paints the most detailed picture yet published of detective work in mid-Victorian Britain, covering "murders most foul," "slums and Society," the emergence of terrorism related to Ireland, and Victorian frauds. One particular fraudster, Harry Benson, was to contribute to the end of Clarke's career and lead to the first major Metropolitan Police corruption trial in 1877. This fascinating book uses widespread sources of information, including many of Clarke's own case reports.
- GenresTrue Crime
288 pages, Paperback
First published November 28, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 19, 2019
The real-life and historical story of an SY detective during the Victorian era called George Clarke. Although showing great promise, the pacing was very slow and therefore, felt a little boring at times. OK if you love getting lots of information given to you in a short space of time!
December 23, 2018
I enjoyed this facinating book very very much. Lacked the gore and sensationalism of the usual books on true crime and it worked well. It’s not an easy book to read, nothing wrong with light and fluffy true crime, and without meaning disrespect, if that’s what you are used to then the language in this is going to feel like wading through mud.
July 14, 2020
‘The Chieftain’ exceeded my expectations. I was expecting to get a bit of a history lesson and perhaps learn a bit about Victorian police work along the way. What I got was a set of cases and reports that would easily fit a script of “Ripper Street” or even “Sherlock”.
What makes “The Chieftain” so readable is that the author has avoided potential pitfalls of drafting and editing a historical biography of an ancestor. The amount of sources compiled into the narrative of George Clarke’s career is exhausting just to read through at the end of the book, it is difficult to imagine how painstaking it must have been for the author to produce. With less care, the multitude of citations and records used could have descended into a dull, disjointed set of quotes and clippings, lacking the flow and context that any true crime report needs to engage the reader. Luckily, that isn’t the case here.
'The Chieftain’ would also have been less compelling if the writer had given in to the temptation to inject too much personal commentary, particularly towards the end of the book when George Clarke is charged with corruption. Again, the author resists the temptation to present a biased view of the trial of a relative and wisely restricts his own opinion to an epilogue. The rest of the book provides commentary only for context.
These two correct decisions leave the reader to follow the cases and career of Clarke across a striking variety of scenarios. Because his career developed during the early days of Scotland Yard, before detectives became specialized in certain types of cases, Clarke’s assignments were incredibly varied in scope. Everything from chasing fugitives across the Pacific Ocean, to the first railroad murder on record, to famous cases such as ‘The Tichborne Claimant’ - which reads like a Netflix series - was covered in ‘The Chieftain’s long career. The only section of the book I found hard to get through was the account of Fenian terrorist activity, where the writer struggled to balance enough political and historical context without drawing focus away from Clarke’s role within it. The rest of the book however, was a quality read. By the end, I was emotionally invested in Clarke and his corruption trial, and found myself wishing his career had lasted just a decade longer, allowing him to have hunted Jack The Ripper.
What makes “The Chieftain” so readable is that the author has avoided potential pitfalls of drafting and editing a historical biography of an ancestor. The amount of sources compiled into the narrative of George Clarke’s career is exhausting just to read through at the end of the book, it is difficult to imagine how painstaking it must have been for the author to produce. With less care, the multitude of citations and records used could have descended into a dull, disjointed set of quotes and clippings, lacking the flow and context that any true crime report needs to engage the reader. Luckily, that isn’t the case here.
'The Chieftain’ would also have been less compelling if the writer had given in to the temptation to inject too much personal commentary, particularly towards the end of the book when George Clarke is charged with corruption. Again, the author resists the temptation to present a biased view of the trial of a relative and wisely restricts his own opinion to an epilogue. The rest of the book provides commentary only for context.
These two correct decisions leave the reader to follow the cases and career of Clarke across a striking variety of scenarios. Because his career developed during the early days of Scotland Yard, before detectives became specialized in certain types of cases, Clarke’s assignments were incredibly varied in scope. Everything from chasing fugitives across the Pacific Ocean, to the first railroad murder on record, to famous cases such as ‘The Tichborne Claimant’ - which reads like a Netflix series - was covered in ‘The Chieftain’s long career. The only section of the book I found hard to get through was the account of Fenian terrorist activity, where the writer struggled to balance enough political and historical context without drawing focus away from Clarke’s role within it. The rest of the book however, was a quality read. By the end, I was emotionally invested in Clarke and his corruption trial, and found myself wishing his career had lasted just a decade longer, allowing him to have hunted Jack The Ripper.
October 2, 2023
Fascinating read
A first class account of the working life of Detective George Clarke in Victorian London, by an author descended from him. Really well put together despite some complex issues. Having worked as a detective I believe George. People do not understand that world , and why should they? I will say no more so as not to spoil what is a fascinating book which I highly recommend.
A first class account of the working life of Detective George Clarke in Victorian London, by an author descended from him. Really well put together despite some complex issues. Having worked as a detective I believe George. People do not understand that world , and why should they? I will say no more so as not to spoil what is a fascinating book which I highly recommend.
March 31, 2020
Quite disappointed in this very repetitive and boring. Very well researched but dull and unexciting
maybe
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews