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Underworld: The definitive history of Britain’s organised crime
Live on the wrong side of the law with Britain’s gangsters, Peaky Blinders, godfathers, robbers, informers, kingpins, vice lords and career criminals
***The Sunday Times Bestseller ***
With stories of murder, theft, fraud and treachery, The Underworld is a deep-dive into the history of professional and organised crime in Britain. From the racetrack gangs and the smash-and-grab merchants, through the Soho vice bosses and the Kray twins, to the Great Train Robbers, the Hatton Garden burglars and the new wave of international hit-men and drug and sex traffickers, Duncan Campbell exposes the dark underbelly of Britain.
A unique perspective – told by the criminals themselves and the detective who pursued them – this is a definitive history from the very beginning to the present day.
395 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 11, 2019
17 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Duncan C. Campbell
68 books8 followersDuncan Campbell was a British journalist and author who worked particularly on crime issues. He was a senior reporter/correspondent for The Guardian from 1987 until 2010, and authored several books.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 6, 2022
Review We all know of the Nigerian scams. There are even 'call centres' now the scam has been industrialised, see I Do Not Come to You by Chance. This book reveals that there are actual course on how scammers can further their career by continuing their fraudulent activities in England.
Most of them spend so much time in criminal university do their degrees or even PhD's, we call it prison, they think at least in the early years of their careers as training ground, that as one of them put it, he could have earned more as a labourer than all the money he earned as a criminal considering half his life was spent in prison. I would recommend to them a book I read earlier this week, Organized Crime: A Very Short Introduction as a good career advice.
Some of these criminals, even the ones with appalling, murderous pasts like the Kray Twins become not just media darlings, but very acceptable to society. The Krays mixed with showbiz people. Ronny Biggs, Great Train Robber who was on the run in Brazil most of the time, was close to being a national hero. Jimmy Boyle whom the press named 'Scotland's most violent criminal' became a best-selling author and world-reknowned writer. Like they say, about criminals and the police, two sides of a coin, and we know how thin they are.
The book is tremendously interesting. A top 5 star if you are British, Duncan Campbell has been an investigative journalist for many years so the book is as well written as it is well researched. If you are an American, you might enjoy a taste of (mostly) the East End crime family scene, but probably the names and crimes will not be familiar to you.
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Reading Notes When someone has been found guilty, it is quite usual for the defence to say, in detail, what a rotten childhood he had, criminal parents who were in prison etc. For the career criminal though, it is quite the opposite to that, and very, very surprising:
__________
Peter Scott (Gulston) a cat burglar described as 'burglar to the stars' and 'king of the burglars' had a very clear insight into his 'job', "The butler was laying a majestic table laden with food and silverware and I felt a bit like a missionary seeing my flock for the first time. I realised this was my life's work, persecuting the rich and the opulent.'
And on his method of burgling these people, 'The term "cat burglar" has been romanticised. You're really only a dishonest window clearner. I actually watch window cleaners doing much more dangerous things than I've ever done."
He had a keen sense of humour too, " I have given the fur trade the benefit of my degeneracy for a number of years". This book is really rather a good read.
Nigerian criminals, mostly involved in fraud, could take a reasonably-priced course in Lagos which would instruct them on how to go about applying for asylum, what stories to tell, whether ot take children with them and what boroughs of London to aim for.Underworld was a revelation to me of quite literally another world that operated by different rules that was easy to perceive but the whole organised enormity of it, and the crossover into 'good people' is more or less invisible. It operates in many respects like 'our' world. Family businesses, taxes (protection money), policing those who break the rules - everything from punches through torture to getting shot, women being treated as an adjunct and the family being the retreat from the world of work.
Most of them spend so much time in criminal university do their degrees or even PhD's, we call it prison, they think at least in the early years of their careers as training ground, that as one of them put it, he could have earned more as a labourer than all the money he earned as a criminal considering half his life was spent in prison. I would recommend to them a book I read earlier this week, Organized Crime: A Very Short Introduction as a good career advice.
Some of these criminals, even the ones with appalling, murderous pasts like the Kray Twins become not just media darlings, but very acceptable to society. The Krays mixed with showbiz people. Ronny Biggs, Great Train Robber who was on the run in Brazil most of the time, was close to being a national hero. Jimmy Boyle whom the press named 'Scotland's most violent criminal' became a best-selling author and world-reknowned writer. Like they say, about criminals and the police, two sides of a coin, and we know how thin they are.
The book is tremendously interesting. A top 5 star if you are British, Duncan Campbell has been an investigative journalist for many years so the book is as well written as it is well researched. If you are an American, you might enjoy a taste of (mostly) the East End crime family scene, but probably the names and crimes will not be familiar to you.
__________
Reading Notes When someone has been found guilty, it is quite usual for the defence to say, in detail, what a rotten childhood he had, criminal parents who were in prison etc. For the career criminal though, it is quite the opposite to that, and very, very surprising:
Fraser's position in the underworld was regarded as the more remarkable because he did not come from a known criminal family. "I'd come up from the ranks, literally fought my way up because I had no help from my family. My mother and father were dead straight so I had to make my own way. If you've got parents who have been to prison they can help you considerably with their contacts and guide you more sensibly."I can't see any lawyer saying that in court!
__________
Peter Scott (Gulston) a cat burglar described as 'burglar to the stars' and 'king of the burglars' had a very clear insight into his 'job', "The butler was laying a majestic table laden with food and silverware and I felt a bit like a missionary seeing my flock for the first time. I realised this was my life's work, persecuting the rich and the opulent.'
And on his method of burgling these people, 'The term "cat burglar" has been romanticised. You're really only a dishonest window clearner. I actually watch window cleaners doing much more dangerous things than I've ever done."
He had a keen sense of humour too, " I have given the fur trade the benefit of my degeneracy for a number of years". This book is really rather a good read.
July 15, 2019
There are two types of true crime writing about gangsters. First, there are the breathless glamourising puff pieces. These are often ghostwritten for celebrity gangsters - some former real criminals, others more wannabes - and one particular publishing house has created a veritable cottage industry in churning these out. Then there is the more serious side of true crime reporting. These tend to be written by serious journalists and steer clear of whitewashing their subject’s sins. Personally, I have no time for the first type and cannot abide by the glamourising “biographies” they produce. I am, however, very interested in the second type, the serious examination of the phenomenon, and Duncan Campbell, the veteran Guardian journalist who has spent much of his career writing about crime, is one of these.
Campbell first plotted the contours of the criminal underworld for a book back in 1994. This was a thorough piece of work for its time and this new book is a broad update, mapping the modern criminal underworld of Britain while giving context as to how it developed. It’s all here: starting from the racetrack gangs and smash and grabbers of the late 19th century, the narrative leads through the safecrackers who followed, the war years and crime in the blitz, the Krays and Richardsons, up to the current day. Along the way, there are chapters dedicated to particular subjects so that they might be examined in more depth: the vice rings of Soho, the big robberies such as Brinks Mat and the Hatten Garden heist, police corruption and hitmen.
There are some revelations here but the book's real strength is the drawing together in one volume of information previously spread out in innumerable other tomes. This is a good survey of gangland Britain. That said, the book does have some shortcomings. Most glaringly is precisely its strength: its breadth. Unfortunately, that means that if a reader knows about a particular subject, this title is frustratingly lacking in depth. For example, one of my interests is police corruption. There are two titles that look at police corruption in the Metropolitan Police, Bent Coppers by Grahame McLagen and Untouchables by Michael Gillard and Laurie Flynn. Having read them both, I found the chapter in Campbell’s book on the subject unsatisfactory.
Then there are the conclusions he reaches. When writing a book like this the author must be under pressure to come up with something new to say and to reach definitive conclusions. I felt that in the latter that he overstretched himself somewhat. For example, in the final chapter, he argues that organised crime gangs eschew publicity and now try to be anonymous, and that marks a change from the Krays who courted the public gaze. But of course it was only the Krays who sought publicity, their rivals the Richardsons were far more camera shy (and indeed far more professional). Similarly, the Nash Family, another crime gang from the period, tried to avoid the limelight. Today, while most crime gangs try to avoid publicity, the Helbaniaz, a major Albanian crime gang, court publicity through YouTube. This leads me to another conclusion he makes which in my opinion doesn’t hold up. He says that crime figures are unlikely to write their memoirs. But then he points to Grime on YouTube where criminals boast and taunt each other and asks what that is if not a memoir. Well, quite. Similarly, when discussing the knife crime to plague the UK at the moment, he implies that the gangs of today are for the most part unlike the crime figures of the past. But are they really? According to the journalist Michael Gillard, David Hunt, the crime lord recently exposed by the Sunday Times, started his career in a street gang known as The Snipers. Similarly, not a few organised crime figures grew out of football hooliganism. Are they that different from the youth gangs of today? Of course, most of the teenagers involved in the postcode violence won’t go on to be crime lords, Campbell is right about that. But equally, most football hooligans didn't in the past. But some of them did and likewise, in thirty years' time, we’re likely to discover that a handful of the current crop has too.
A final issue the author has to contend with, one outside of his control, is his unfortunate timing. Just recently two excellent volumes were published that cast gangland in a new light. The first was Drug War by Peter Walsh. A landmark examination of Customs & Excise's pursuit of drug barons, it was full of revelations on the drug trade and infamous figures such as Mickey Greene. Then there is One Last Job by Tom Pettifor and Nick Sommerlad. A biography of Brian Reader, one of the Hatten Garden gang (not one of those breathless glamourising biographies that I decry above, but a serious piece of journalism) its narrative was wider than that, examining East End gangland in some detail and thus demonstrating how a figure like Reader could come about. Finally, Michael Gillard’s landmark expose of David Hunt is due for publication in just a matter of days.
So While Campbell’’s book is an overview and that is its strength, its also a weakness. Its target readership is likely to have read or are likely planning to read some of these other titles, and thus Underworld will suffer in comparison.
In conclusion, Underworld is a great book and is written a by a great writer. I would highly recommend it and hope that this review does not come across as too critical. But unfortunately, in a crowded field, it just can’t help but suffer against its competition.
Campbell first plotted the contours of the criminal underworld for a book back in 1994. This was a thorough piece of work for its time and this new book is a broad update, mapping the modern criminal underworld of Britain while giving context as to how it developed. It’s all here: starting from the racetrack gangs and smash and grabbers of the late 19th century, the narrative leads through the safecrackers who followed, the war years and crime in the blitz, the Krays and Richardsons, up to the current day. Along the way, there are chapters dedicated to particular subjects so that they might be examined in more depth: the vice rings of Soho, the big robberies such as Brinks Mat and the Hatten Garden heist, police corruption and hitmen.
There are some revelations here but the book's real strength is the drawing together in one volume of information previously spread out in innumerable other tomes. This is a good survey of gangland Britain. That said, the book does have some shortcomings. Most glaringly is precisely its strength: its breadth. Unfortunately, that means that if a reader knows about a particular subject, this title is frustratingly lacking in depth. For example, one of my interests is police corruption. There are two titles that look at police corruption in the Metropolitan Police, Bent Coppers by Grahame McLagen and Untouchables by Michael Gillard and Laurie Flynn. Having read them both, I found the chapter in Campbell’s book on the subject unsatisfactory.
Then there are the conclusions he reaches. When writing a book like this the author must be under pressure to come up with something new to say and to reach definitive conclusions. I felt that in the latter that he overstretched himself somewhat. For example, in the final chapter, he argues that organised crime gangs eschew publicity and now try to be anonymous, and that marks a change from the Krays who courted the public gaze. But of course it was only the Krays who sought publicity, their rivals the Richardsons were far more camera shy (and indeed far more professional). Similarly, the Nash Family, another crime gang from the period, tried to avoid the limelight. Today, while most crime gangs try to avoid publicity, the Helbaniaz, a major Albanian crime gang, court publicity through YouTube. This leads me to another conclusion he makes which in my opinion doesn’t hold up. He says that crime figures are unlikely to write their memoirs. But then he points to Grime on YouTube where criminals boast and taunt each other and asks what that is if not a memoir. Well, quite. Similarly, when discussing the knife crime to plague the UK at the moment, he implies that the gangs of today are for the most part unlike the crime figures of the past. But are they really? According to the journalist Michael Gillard, David Hunt, the crime lord recently exposed by the Sunday Times, started his career in a street gang known as The Snipers. Similarly, not a few organised crime figures grew out of football hooliganism. Are they that different from the youth gangs of today? Of course, most of the teenagers involved in the postcode violence won’t go on to be crime lords, Campbell is right about that. But equally, most football hooligans didn't in the past. But some of them did and likewise, in thirty years' time, we’re likely to discover that a handful of the current crop has too.
A final issue the author has to contend with, one outside of his control, is his unfortunate timing. Just recently two excellent volumes were published that cast gangland in a new light. The first was Drug War by Peter Walsh. A landmark examination of Customs & Excise's pursuit of drug barons, it was full of revelations on the drug trade and infamous figures such as Mickey Greene. Then there is One Last Job by Tom Pettifor and Nick Sommerlad. A biography of Brian Reader, one of the Hatten Garden gang (not one of those breathless glamourising biographies that I decry above, but a serious piece of journalism) its narrative was wider than that, examining East End gangland in some detail and thus demonstrating how a figure like Reader could come about. Finally, Michael Gillard’s landmark expose of David Hunt is due for publication in just a matter of days.
So While Campbell’’s book is an overview and that is its strength, its also a weakness. Its target readership is likely to have read or are likely planning to read some of these other titles, and thus Underworld will suffer in comparison.
In conclusion, Underworld is a great book and is written a by a great writer. I would highly recommend it and hope that this review does not come across as too critical. But unfortunately, in a crowded field, it just can’t help but suffer against its competition.
October 2, 2022
Good Standard
A solid well composed collection of historical and modern crime references. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys this genre.
A solid well composed collection of historical and modern crime references. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys this genre.
April 7, 2021
Comprehensive review of major criminals in Britain, mainly gangsters, since the early 20th century up to the current time. Duncan Campbell is a tremendous reporter and covered many of the cases he writes about here.
The main drawback of the book is that it covers so much that there is rarely any time for decent analysis of events. By the end he is able to highlight the contrast between today's county lines operators and anonymised web fraudsters with the old-school mobsters, such as the Krays and Richardsons.
But it is all such a whistle-stop tour that it feels as though the author's expertise is a little wasted skimming over so much history.
The main drawback of the book is that it covers so much that there is rarely any time for decent analysis of events. By the end he is able to highlight the contrast between today's county lines operators and anonymised web fraudsters with the old-school mobsters, such as the Krays and Richardsons.
But it is all such a whistle-stop tour that it feels as though the author's expertise is a little wasted skimming over so much history.
March 31, 2021
While I enjoyed hearing about the history of London's underworld, I found myself struggling to keep up with all the names. This is a book that will offer a lot to those who are really into history and that know the London neighborhoods. As someone living in London, but not originally from this country, I did find myself marking a few bars to visit!
October 20, 2024
Poorly written I'm afraid - stringing together a series of facts a bit like an A level essay.
July 26, 2025
Some interesting bits and individual stories but suffers from being too much of just one crime / gang after another - could have done with being more thematic.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews