annieb123's Review of Dick Turpin

by Jonathan Oates

Why does the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin have such an extraordinary reputation today? How come his criminal career has inspired a profusion of often misleading literature and film? This eighteenth-century villain is often portrayed as a hero - dashing, sinister, romantic, daring, a Robin Hood of his times. The reality, as Jonathan Oates reveals in this perceptive, carefully researched study, was radically different. He was a robber, torturer and killer, a gangster whose posthumous reputation has eclipsed the truth about his life.

In the early 1700s Turpin progressed from butcher's apprentice and poacher to become a member of the Gregory gang which terrorized householders around London by robbery and violence. Then came his two-year career as a highwayman robbing travellers, his partnership with Matthew King whom he may have killed in Whitechapel, his murder Thomas Morris in Epping Forest, and his eventual capture and execution.

Jonathan Oates recounts the episodes in Turpin's short, brutal life in dramatic detail, basing his narrative on contemporary sources - trial records and newspapers in particular - and he traces the development of the Turpin legend over 250 years through novels, ballads, plays, television and film.

The Dick Turpin who emerges from this rigorous and scholarly biography is in many ways a more interesting man than the legend suggests.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Dick Turpin: Fact and Fiction is a history based biography of highwayman, robber, & murderer Dick Turpin curated and written by Dr. Jonathan Oates. Due out 30th May 2023 from Pen & Sword on their True Crime imprint, it's 272 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

Long depicted as a dashing, handsome, and romantic figure, the historical Turpin was the diametric opposite: a murderer, thief, housebreaker, and thug who was eventually captured, tried, and executed in 1738-39. Dr. Oates does a good job of rendering Turpin more realistically (and MUCH less flatteringly) by liberal use of extant historical records, judicial transcripts, and well vetted source material.

The text is meticulously annotated and written in accessible and easy to understand language. The chapter notes and bibliography will provide hours of further reading for students of true-crime history. The text is enhanced with an appendix which contains historical and modern photos of the environs and some of the sites where Turpin lived and died.

Five stars. Well written and absorbing. Recommended for readers of true crime history.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

11 March, 2023: Started reading

11 March, 2023: Finished reading

11 March, 2023: Reviewed