Mark Davis

The Kray Twins aka Ronnie and Reggie ruled London’s Gangland underworld during the 1960s with a ruthlessness rod of iron that still shocks yet captivates young and old alike to this very day. Their calculated rise to power involved fear, extortion, violence and murder as-well as developing a cult like celebrity status, which thrived in the heart of the swinging 60s nightclub scene and beyond. Although some may say their story may have been told many times over, the crime scene locations and background in which their lives unfolded and evolved has been largely abandoned to the past. For the first time in over half a century we can finally uncover what still remains of Britain’s most notorious brothers in crime and using the original police reports, eyewitness testimony and files from the public archives we aim in this book to separate fact from fiction to present the real story behind the ‘Firm’. True crime and social historians Richard C Cobb and Mark Davis return to the Krays old stomping ground in East London and take the reader behind the scenes on a step by step journey through the avenues and alleyways of their “Manor”As the past meets the present, they uncover key locations forgotten in time and present the truth about the rise and demise of the Kray brothers. From humble East End beginnings, to becoming the Godfathers of London's underworld, to their eventual downfall culminating in life imprisonment. Cobb and Davis explore the most charismatic part of East London, uncovering a cockney culture and a personality that has never left the area, where even today the shadow of the Krays still lurk around every corner embedded in the very streets they virtually owned. The Legend is everything…

Although the story of Jack the Ripper has been told many times, the crime scene locations and the killing ground which he and his unfortunate victims would have been familiar with has been largely left unknown. This book is the literary equivalent of a walking tour around the sites that would have been frequented by those who lived in Whitechapel in 1888. Using the original police reports, new images, maps and diagrams the book takes the reader deep inside Jack the Ripper’s London and presents the truth about what actually happened in the autumn of 1888 and what remains of the notorious killer’s London today. The focus is on the ever-changing face of London’s East End, giving the reader a real sense of how the past meets the present in arguably London’s most vibrant and cultural quarter, where the shadow of the Ripper is never too far away…Jack the Ripper’s London features previously unseen images from the authors’ own collections and detailed crime scene reconstructions that have never been published before. This will be the perfect companion for anyone wanting to visit the East End of London or those who wish to get a sense of where everything happened in Jack the Ripper’s day.