The thief-taker hangings
Subtitle: how Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Wild, and Jack Sheppard captivated London and created scandal journalism
By: Aaron Skirboll
Publisher: Lyons Press; Lyons Press, an imprint of Globe Pequot Press
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Guilford, Connecticut
Language: eng
Number of pages: 302
ISBN-13: 9780762791484
Subjects: Crime and the press; Sensationalism in journalism; History; Criminals; Tabloid newspapers; Social conditions; HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain; HISTORY / Modern / 18th Century; TRUE CRIME / General
Description: "In the early 1700s, lawlessness ruled England, and highwaymen, thieves, and prostitutes thrived. When notorious burglar Jack Sheppard finally met the hangman, street singers warbled ballads about the housebreaker whom no prison could hold. Before his execution, he told his story to a writer in the crowd. Daniel Defoe had done hard time himself for sedition and bankruptcy and saw how prison corrupted the poor. They came out thieves, but he came out a journalist. Six months later, Defoe covered another death at the hanging tree. Jonathan Wild had all but invented the double-cross. He cultivated thieves and then betrayed them for his reward and their executions. Jack Sheppard hadn't taken orders from this self-proclaimed "thief-taker general," and the two-faced bounty hunter took it personally, helping to bring the burglar's life to an end. But Wild's duplicity soon came to light, and he became the most despised man in the land. When he swung, a mob hurled rocks, rotten food, and even dead animals at him. Defoe once again got the scoop, and tabloid journalism had begun"--

"Chronicles the invention of scandal journalism by Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.