The Guv'nor: The Autobiography of Lenny McLean

by Lenny McLean

Lenny McLean was the deadliest bare-knuckle fighter Britain has ever seen. He had powerful friends, but he also had terrible enemies. So much so that he had two bullet wounds in his back—each from a different attack. He has also stabbed repeatedly—always from behind. But Lenny was also a warm, huge-hearted grizzly bear of a man, whose main weakness was an overwhelming desire to put the welfare of his mates ahead of his own well-being. In this extraordinary autobiography he tells how the Mafia flew him to New York to take on their greatest bare-knuckle boxer in a multi-million pound illicit challenge bout. The Mafia’s man lasted less than three minutes. When the IRA fronted up a London gang in a money-laundering scam, Lenny was brought in to intimidate the terrorists. The IRA, not surprisingly, backed off. After deciding to retire from the violent life, Len turned his hand to acting, debuting in the hit series The Knock , following with parts in The Fifth Element and, famously, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels . This is a tale of one man’s triumph against almost insurmountable odds, in a battle that Len fought everyday for himself, and to put food on the table for his wife and kids.

Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography, Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2017

Reviews

[Tom Maguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gov'nor follows the life of the handler and unlicensed boxer dubbed the hardest man in the UK.

He tells of his harsh upbringing, which goes some way into explaining how he became the hardest man, and then into a series of anecdotes of why he had to give someone either a slap or a cuddle.

His life being a world away from my own, I found the book incredibly interesting, and I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in understanding more about the underworld.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Audiobook) An interesting enough read about a fascinating guy mainly living through the 70s and 80s on the darker side of London.

Whilst he had certainly developed his own values, I can't help but feel they contradicted from time to time. To be honest, if you described what someone did, I couldn't tell you if Lenny would mark them as a 'stand-up guy', or someone 'taking liberties'. The punishment handed out wasn't always understandable to me either.

There is quite a lot of rhyming slang used, so you might need a translator. I'm still not sure I could tell you what 'so I marked his card' means!

All in all, it was a very interesting read and a great bit of insight into Lenny and his world.

[James R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book that is basically a long sequence 9f anecdotes about people Penny McLean has punched, 5hus was a surprisingly enjoyable read. The violence described is brutal and the moral code McLean follows is dubious (punching people who are unconscious is OK if they've taken a liberty but telling the police who stabbed you isn't) but I liked the conversational way it is written. It seems likely the man was a sociopath but he comes across as quite charming in his own way, though the people he viciously battered over the years would probably disagree with this assessment.

[karen Boorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great in site to a great man

[William Hobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book it’s done in a conversational style and is full of funny and sad stories about Lenny McLean well worth the read.

[Nicola Southall-Lowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew nothing about him I found it interesting

[Wayne Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good? Nah, he’s better than good…. He’s a facking liability!