EAST END GANGLAND

Paperback. Reprint. SIGNED. Murder, extortion, vice, drugs - from the immigrant gangs of the early 20th century to the Kray twins and after, nowhere in Britain is as synonymous with organised crime as London's East End. In this fascinating and revealing book, James Morton, author of many true crime classics, looks back at the crimes and the criminals that have given the area its legendary reputation. It was a series of horrific killings in the late 19th-century that first brought the East End to the nation's attention, in particular the Whitechapel Murders of 1888, carried out by Jack the Ripper. That and the area's ever changing social mix - from the influx of Ashkenazi Jews to the rising Asian population of modern times - has helped create a climate where organised crime can flourish. Illus., Bibliog. and Index. 454pp. p/back. With tipped-in label SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. F. with no creasing to covers.