SUMMARY:
Ever since the Kray twins invited John Pearson to write their official biography more than forty years ago, he has been obsessed with them. After they were jailed in 1969 for thirty years for murder, Pearsons biography The Profession of Violence enjoyed a cult following among the young and was said to be the most popular book in H.M.s prisons, after the Bible. Ron died in 1995. Reg followed him five years later, and both of their funerals drew crowds on a scale unknown for film stars, let alone for two departed murderers. Since then, far from fading with their death, public fascination with the twins has never flagged. Their clothes and memorabilia are sold at auction like religious relics. Rons childlike prison paintings fetch more money than those of many well-known artists. And people still refer to them like popular celebrities. Why? This is the question Pearson asked himself, and over the past three years he has been re-examining their history, unearthing much previously unknown material, and has come to some fascinating conclusions. The Immortal Murderers reveals new facts about the Krays tortured relationship as identical twins; a relationship which helped predestine them to a life of crime; a relationship that made them utterly unlike any other major criminals. Pearson has discovered two new and unsuspected murders, along with fresh light on the killings of George Cornell and Jack the Hat McVitie. There are facts about the twins obsession with publicity, and how far this made them actor criminals murdering for notoriety. Most riveting of all are the chapters which reveal how Ron Kray caused a major sexual scandal in which a prime minister, together with other leading politicians, condoned the most outrageous establishment cover-up in British politics since the war. The Immortal Murderers contains many more surprises, but the one thing that emerges is that the Kray twins were not only stranger but also far more important than anyone ever suspected. Fascination with them will forever remain; they will never lose their role as the immortal murderers.]]> Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:19:55 +0200 https://library.land/john-pearson/283450-learn_me_good.html https://library.land/john-pearson/283450-learn_me_good.html
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Oil tycoon J. Paul Gerry created the greatest fortune in America - and came close to destroying his own family in the process. Of his four sons who reached manhood, only one survived relatively unscathed. One killed himself, one became a drug-addicted recluse and the third had to bear the stigma all his life of being disinherited in childhood. The unhappiness continued into the next generation, with the name Getty, as one journalist put it, 'becoming synonymous for family dysfunction'. Getty's once favourite grandson was kidnapped by the Italian mafia, lost his car and, after a lifetime of drink and drugs, became a paraplegic. A granddaughter is currently suffering from AIDS. And the Getty family itself has been torn apart by litigation over their poisoned inheritance. But did the disaster have to happen? John Pearson, who has specialized in biographies of families as varied as the Churchills, the British Royal Family, the Dcvonshires and the Krays, sets out to find the answer....]]> Tue, 19 Nov 2013 21:36:19 +0200 https://library.land/john-pearson/296375-the_profession_of_violence.html https://library.land/john-pearson/296375-the_profession_of_violence.html
Reggie and Ronald Kray ruled London's gangland during the 1960s with a ruthlessness and viciousness that shocks even now. Building an empire of organised crime such as nobody has done before or since, the brothers swindled, intimidated, terrorised, extorted and brutally murdered. John Pearson explores the strange relationship that bound the twins together, and charts their gruesome career to their downfall and imprisonment for life in 1969. Now expanded to include further extraordinary revelations, including the unusual alliance between the Kray twins and Lord Boothby – the Tory peer who won £40,000 in a libel settlement when he denied allegation of his association with the Krays – 'Profession of Violence 'is a truly classic work.]]> Wed, 20 Nov 2013 09:38:29 +0200 https://library.land/john-pearson/283446-biggles.html https://library.land/john-pearson/283446-biggles.html
John Pearson]]> Tue, 19 Nov 2013 19:19:53 +0200 https://library.land/john-pearson/283445-learn_me_gooder.html https://library.land/john-pearson/283445-learn_me_gooder.html
]]> Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:19:53 +0200 https://library.land/john-pearson/441233-barbara_cartland.html https://library.land/john-pearson/441233-barbara_cartland.html
A phenomenon and a legend in her lifetime, Barbara Cartland has held the world record four years running as the most prolific author alive. Now, with her novels being filmed and selling throughout the world, she has become a household name. But what of the woman behind the legend? Henry Cloud has looked back into her past life and tells of the unexpected hardships and the young girl's dreams that produced the first Barbara Cartland novels, written in her early twenties. He reveals the influence of men like Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill and Lord Birkenhead on her life when she was struggling to achieve fame. This was the era of the dancing Twenties, when she received forty-nine proposals of marriage. He describes her relationships with both her husbands and her love and ambition for her talented brother Ronald - her battle to get him into Parliament and his tragic death in the war. It is a story as romantic and inspiring as any of her own novels. But Barbara Cartland...]]> Wed, 27 Nov 2013 20:53:34 +0200 https://library.land/john-pearson/283448-blood_royal_the_story_of_the_spencers_and_the_royals.html https://library.land/john-pearson/283448-blood_royal_the_story_of_the_spencers_and_the_royals.html