British Murder: A Compendium: 1901-2000

George Orwell wrote a famous essay, ‘Decline Of The English Murder’, which appeared in the Socialist weekly ‘Tribune’ on 15 February 1946. He lamented the passing of the classic murderers such as Seddon, Crippen and Smith and considered modern murder as banal, meaningless. He was wrong. No murder is meaningless. Every crime reveals something about the culprit and the victim, as this book proves. Any real study of Neville Heath, John Haigh or John Christie - three of the most notorious psychopaths of the post-war years - reveals fascinating and, in Heath"s case especially, tragic stories. And the progress of forensics in the second half of the 20th century is a remarkable tale in itself. It becomes harder and harder to get away with murder - and yet people still think they can outwit the law; some do. The last entry is in some ways the worst; the deeds of Dr Harold Shipman, a bearded egotist who would have been a great companion for Drs Palmer, Pritchard and Lamson in the 19th century, who proves that the children of Cain are still with us.