MURDER IN SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLAND

Hardback. Fascination with murder is not a modern phenomenon. People in the past were just as interested in extreme violence and homicide as people nowadays. In Shakespeare's England all excessive and gratuitous violence was condemned and prosecuted, with murderers being categorised as particularly wicked. The courtrooms where murderers were tried were packed and crowds attended their execution. Ballads, about notorious cases and prints reflected the huge interest such cases generated. Yet, in a world with no police and little forensic expertise, identification, pursuit and prosecution presented many difficulties. The author looks at a series of murder cases, ranging from brawls to infanticide, and including serial and sex killings, to paint a picture of how murder was comitted, discovered and punished in early modern England. Illus., Abbreviations, Note on Quotations, Notes, Bibliog. and Index. 285pp. lge. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F. in F. dw.