Great and Horrible News: Murder and Mayhem in Early Modern Britain

In early modern England, murder was a gruesome and public spectacle, with trials filled with spectators and executions that promised gore and confessions. This history explores the true stories of murder, criminal investigation, forensic techniques, and high court trials, revealing the lives of real people who confronted extraordinary crises of death and murder. The book uses original research from coroners' inquests, court records, parish archives, letters, diaries, and cheap street pamphlets to piece together these intensely personal stories. Despite the historical cruelty, some aspects of the history of death and murder remain familiar today, such as our fascination with narratives of murder and true crime, the public spectacle of murder trials, the portrayal of female killers as aberrant objects of public hatred and sexual desire, and the stigma of suicide within religious organizations.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 28 March 2024
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

In the early modern era of England, murder was a gruesome and captivating spectacle that captivated the nation. Trials were filled with gossipy spectators, and executions were public events that promised a mix of gore, desperate confessions, and grand human drama. Bookstores were flooded with grisly tales of crime and death, selling like hotcakes. This history delves into the true stories of murder, criminal investigation, early forensic techniques, high court trials, and much more. Through thrilling narratives, we follow a fugitive killer through the streets of London, as citizen detectives eagerly seek to assist officials in closing the net. We unravel the mystery of a suspected staged suicide through the emerging science of forensic pathology. We witness a mother's desperate quest to clear her deceased daughter's name, while other women face accusations of murdering their own children, sometimes based on truth and sometimes on falsehoods. These stories are pieced together from original research, encompassing coroners' inquests, court records, parish archives, letters, diaries, and the ubiquitous cheap street pamphlets that catered to the voracious public's thirst for knowledge. These intensely personal narratives portray the lives of real people as they grappled with extraordinary crises such as murder, infanticide, miscarriage, and suicide. While some historical laws and attitudes towards death and murder may seem cruel by modern standards, they still hold relevance in reminding us of certain timeless aspects of human behavior. We continue to be fascinated by narratives of murder and true crime, murder trials remain grand public spectacles, female killers are often portrayed as aberrant objects of public hatred and sexual desire, and suicide remains a sin within many religious organizations.

Weight: 216g
Dimension: 198 x 130 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780008500269