The Krays: A Violent Business: The Definitive Inside Story of Britain's Most Notorious Brothers in Crime

by Colin Fry

Twins Ron and Reg Kray were without doubt the most powerful, violent and deadly gangsters that London has ever known. They ran protection rackets, clubs and casinos, as well as fraudulent 'long firms'. They blackmailed, intimidated and killed - for many years with impunity thanks to their powerful cronies in the Establishment. Working with all five main Mafia families in New York, they were expanding their business worldwide when they were imprisoned for murder in 1968.Featuring revealing new material, The A Violent Business is the story of their lives - and of the secrets and scandals the British government still doesn't want you to know about.

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 5, 2011

About the author

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

seemed quite alot of not needed rambling - I skimmed about half the book.

[FJY · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have always been very interested in the Krays and I usually enjoy books about them. However, I found this book a real chore. I found it tedious and long-winded, which was not helped by the author constantly going off on a tangent and going on and on about other people and things that were not relevant to the book. I found that I had to skip whole pages on numerous occasions, as he was off on one and banging on about other things. I didn't manage to finish this book, but I don't regret that. All I do regret is the amount of time that I wasted on it before I finally gave up on it.

Don't read this, unless you have insomnia. It is incredibly boring. I cannot recommend it to anyone.

[Book Addict Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love true crime and have long had a fascination with the Krays and the criminal underworld. I found this book fascinating, other reviewers have said how it was basically a rehash of the authors previous work but having never read his other books that didn't really bother me.

It was clear that the author knew what he was talking about and wasn't just another author trying to cash in by flinging together some stories taken from press and urban myths. I liked the way he went beyond just telling us what the Krays did but tried to work out why and explain what made them tick. Very informative about the mafia and other aspects of the criminal world. The mafia chapter in particular was very interesting and one is left wondering just how far the Krays could have gone if they hadn't been imprisoned.