True Crime: The Infamous Villains of Modern History and Their Hideous Crimes

by Martin Fido, David Southwell

The lure of authentic true crime stories is irresistible-the more gruesome, brutal, or bizarre the better! Here, delivered in hard-hitting tabloid style, are hundreds of them, dating from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day, complete with contemporary illustrations. The list of perps includes the most notorious criminals of modern history, right up to Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned and raped his daughter for 24 years, and Armin Meiwes, the cannibal who found a willing victim.
Their true tales are
Lizzie Borden  o  Jack the Ripper  o  Al Capone  o   Charles Manson  o  Jeffrey Dahmer

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, History, Reference

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is really a delight. Great big trade paperback full of splashy photos accenting the newspaper-format look of each page. Like a gigantic clippings scrapbook, bulging with crimes -- the tall and the small.

[truecrimereader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an ambitious project that was well executed by its author, Martin Fido. First published in 1993 in hardcover, it has since been updated several times and released under different titles. I own a paperback version, and my only complaint is that the print is a bit small.

'The Chronicle of Crime' is designed like a newspaper, featuring bold tabloid-style headlines and black-and-white photographs. And the 'real time' writing style makes you feel like you are actually discovering these events through a newspaper, just as you would have done at the time.

The book's year-by-year format, which dates back to 1880, covers a wide range of topics, including many well-known crimes as well as those that are less familiar. All types of offences are included, such as murder, extortion, human trafficking, burglary, fraud, blackmail, and much more. Some of the more infamous cases, including Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Peter Sutcliffe, Ted Bundy, and Harold Shipman (in the later paperback edition), receive separate two-page treatments.

A real keeper for any true crime enthusiast!

[Kaylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a unique take on the True Crime genre. The book covers crime stories for over 200 years. And the format is unique as well. Each story is told as a newspaper clipping. It was cool to see the stories unfolding as they would in real time. Many of the stories are from the UK, but there are some from America, Canada, and Australia. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because a few of the stories ended abruptly. Like mid-sentence abrupt. I half expected to see a "Continued on pg. 6" at the bottom of the stories. And some of the biggest stories that I expected to be included, like Jonbenet Ramsey, were not even mentioned briefly.

[S.L. Dearing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oneof my ABSOLUTE favorite books. If you are a true Crime fan, then y ou should get this book. It goes back several hundred years, and Martin Fido has written the events of each crime as if you were readinga newspaper of the time. There are pictures and drawings from actaul papers. Seriously, I have read this over adn over.

[John Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting historical look at many famous crimes / criminals from various countries over a period of two hundred years or so. It is presented in the form of newspaper articles, an effective treatment. All photos or drawings are in black and white, in a newspaper style.
I got this at a bookfest a while back.
Rating 4.0.

[Nilendu Misra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This alone pays the price of admission — John Wayne Gacy — an active democrat — is the only mass murdered to have been photographed shaking hands with the then first lady, Mrs Ford!

[Linda Fast · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the newspaper stories were really interesting as well as the photos and illustrations. I did find the print smaller than I like it and was hard to read at times.

[Gemma Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, shame the writing is so very small

[Mareena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting chronicle of true crime. Takes place from the 17th century to the late 20th century.

[Syeda Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pathetic crimes. Horrible!

[Nichole]

the history of crime