BURKE AND HARE The Year of the Ghouls

Softcover. Body snatching, corruption and murder in Enlightenment Edinburgh. Early 19th century Edinburgh was gripped by fear of body-snatchers. New graves were constantly under threat from unscrupulous ghouls keen to profit from the medical school's voracious appetite for corpses. In 1828, Burke and Hare, a pair of opportunistic low-lives, took the practice to a new extreme. They murdered at least 16 innocent victims, including a 12yr old boy, in the name of medical science - and the freshness of the corpses they delivered for dissection, earned them extra money. The names of Burke and Hare have become synonymous with body-snatching, but the true details of their crimes have been obscured by mythology and questions still surround the case. In Enlightenment Edinburgh, how were Burke and Hare able to carry on their repulsive and murderous trade undetected for so long? Why was only one of the homicidal duo brought to justice? And what were the roles of Burke and Hare's common-law wives, the medical students who took delivery of the corpses and Dr Robert Knox, the distinguished teacher of anatomy whose dissecting table was the final resting place of the unfortunate victims? The author reveals a sordid side to a society which was famed for its intellectual and progressive thinking, yet depended on predatory criminals for the advance of medical knowledge. In this book, the evidence is thoroughly re-examined - and startling conclusions are reached. With Appendices, Select Bibliog. and Index. 223pp. trade size softcover. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F. with no creasing to covers.