Neil R. Storey's macabre calendar chronicles the darker side of life in Essex. Murderers and footpads, pimps and prostitutes, riots, rebels, bizarre funerals, disaster and peculiar medicine all feature. The book is illustrated with engravings, newspaper reports, photographs and original documents. It is horrible, if it is ghastly, if it is strange, then it is here! If you have the stomach for it, then read on.

A Grim Almanac of Old Berkshire is a day-by-day catalogue of ghastly tales dating from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. Full of torment and torture, heinous homicides and cataclysms of nature, these pages contain multiple murders, horrendous hauntings and audacious thefts. Have you heard the story of the pub landlord who attempted to end it all by leaping down his own well? All he achieved was a broken ankle. Also featured here are the Watchfield farmer who tried to turn his wife into cooking fat, the family who charged people to view their relative's decapitated body, and the violent poltergeist activity that took place at the old forge at Finchampstead and made national news headlines in 1926. This compilation of grim deeds contains a veritable plethora of poisonings, assaults, drownings, kidnappings, suicides and disasters. If you have ever wondered about what nasty goings-on occurred in the Berkshire of yesteryear, then look no further – it's all here. But do you have the stomach for it?

The history of Essex has a wicked side - episodes of murder and villany run through it. In this compelling book, Donnelley has selected a dozen of the most revealing and disturbing cases.

Here are Essex Girls in a different light to the stereotype of modern public expectation. Murderers, mayhem-makers, swindlers, witches, smugglers and lustful adulteresses have played a part in the darker side of the county's history. From the thirteenth century onwards, Essex has produced more than its fair share of infamous women. Some got their comeuppance, some profited from their infamy and others were misguided, or with the benefit of hindsight, misjudged. The reader will find a plethora of women to hate, ridicule or secretly admire in Dee Gordon's new book. Some of the characters featured here might horrify or mystify, others will provoke empathy or disbelief, but all tales are authenticated by hours of research. Read, learn, squirm - and smile!

Discover 366 gruesome tales from Birmingham's past. With appalling accidents, frightful crimes and extraordinary deaths, there's something to surprise even the most hardened reader. Featured here is the man who deliberately swallowed his wooden walking stick, a nineteenth-century horsemeat scandal, a drunken dispute that led to a man being stabbed in the eye with a table fork, and the lightning storm which hit a fog-signalling factory, setting off 43,000 explosions. True accounts of fires, catastrophes, murders, executions and a variety of nasty goings-on in the Birmingham of yesteryear await you within.

For two centuries, the shadow of the workhouse hung over Britain. The recourse of only the most desperate, dark, and terrible tales of malnutrition, misery, mistreatment, and murder ran like wildfire through the poorer classes, who lived in terror of being forced inside the institution's towering walls—and, as this collection proves, all of them were true! This book contains 365 incredible tales of fires, drownings, explosions, and disasters, infamous scandals such as the Andover affair—where inmates were forced to eat the bones they were supposed to be crushing to ward off starvation—and sickening tales of abuse, assault, bodysnatching, poisonings, post mortems, and murder. Accompanied by 70 rare and wonderful illustrations, this book will thrill, fascinate, sadden, and unnerve in equal measure.

Prisons and Prisoners in Victorian Britain' provides an illustrated insight into the Victorian prison system and the experiences of those within it - on both sides of the bars. Featuring stories of crime and misdeeds, this fascinating book includes chapters on a typical day inside a Victorian prison - food, divine service, exercise and medical provision; the punishments inflicted on convicts - such as hard labour, flogging, the treadwheel and shot drill; and, an overview of the ultimate penalty paid by prisoners - execution. Richly illustrated with a series of photographs, engravings, documents and letters, this volume is sure to appeal to all those interested in crime and social history in Victorian Britain.