Brewer's Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics

by William Donaldson

Presenting the Hall of Shame! Both entertaining and indiscreet, this dictionary of callous cads introduces a host of wildly colorful characters. Here are assassins and arsonists, hangmen and horse thieves, hell-raisers and highwaymen, not to mention an array of poisoners, quacks, and forgers. Meet Ronald Biggs, one of the participants of the Great Train Robby, and Julie Amiri, a thief who found being detained by policemen...very exciting. There's enough degradation, depravity, and dottiness to delight anyone. A Selection of the Readers Subscription Book Club .

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Reference, Biography, Crime, True Crime, Humor

640 pages, Hardcover

First published October 28, 2002

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enormously fun bedtime book to dip into and out again...

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can there be anything better than this book? Answer is no. Even the index is a highlight. Find out and google the author's real name and obits for tales of mind-boggling degeneracy - that is if your appetite hasn't already been sated by this book.

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Addictive horrible hilarious biographies of British folly, banality and sin. A thousand years of tabloid gossip and popular madness, events too ephemeral for most serious historians: degradation, unchecked insanity and petty cruelty. But incredibly funny. The biographies are spaced out by Donaldson's wonderful little hooks, dry sentences that lead one on a wiki-walk:

* ears, bagfuls of drying
* universes, privileged to be part of a team working in many
* drinking 'brain damage' while composing a speech for Michael Heseltine
* coal merchants, remarkable
* voluptuous Tartars and tun-bellied Chinese
* dog on a diet of cats, feeding one's 12-stone
* soft heart and 83 previous convictions, a

He has particular obsessions, and the book is organised around them: the fate of gays throughout British history; criminal priests, eccentric spinster aristocrats, the line of succession of London ganglords from Jonathan Wild onward; politicians doing what they ought not; the odd fates private schoolboys often find themselves in... Obviously this is no demerit in an unsystematic historian. The modern gang biographies attest to his personal acquaintance with the big diamond geezers (which makes him a "silly bollocks", a foolish gang dilettante). His wit's mostly very dry, on occasion boiling over into outrage:

Dodd's execution took place at Tyburn on 27 June 1777 and the outcry it occasioned has been recognized by some historians as a key moment in focusing public attention on the brutality of capital punishment. It seems more likely, however, that it was caused less by any broad change in public opinion than by the fact Dodd was of the same class as those protesting his execution. A 15-year-old orphan, John Harris, hanged on the same day for stealing two and half guineas, received no such support, least of all from Dr Johnson...

Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, the law was changed to ensure that the production and supply of dangerous drugs should henceforth be in the hands of criminal organisations. Some people have argued that this is not an ideal arrangement.

I made the mistake of trying to read it over one week - so the endless succession of 18th century rapist officers being instantly pardoned and/or their victims being arrested kind of ran together. It is actually the best bog book ever and wants 4 slow months. I understand Britain a lot better now. The author would emphatically deserve an entry of his own in any future edition: astonishing wit, astonishing connections, astonishing potential, with little to show for it but a barrel of laughs and this.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun trivia.

[Sillyhuron · Rating 4 out of 5]

683 pages of con artists, poltroons, gangsters, witches, assassins, vegetarians, hermits, murderers and just plain wackos. What's not to like? This absolute romp of a dictionary by William Donaldson keeps most entries down to a page or two (making it excellent bathroom material),and keeps the more complex cases clear. The only problems are the writing (pedestrian - but with stories like this, who needs embellishment?)and the author's habit of disparaging movie and rock stars. Highly recommended.

[Alexandra]

Really interesting, but far too long for a casual read. As this was a library book, I couldn't keep dipping into it - it had to go back at some point. Also worth noting that it will need updating, as the late Jimmy Savile has since been embroiled in a scandal and some of the people have died, such as George Best.

[Caitlin]

Brewer's rogues, villains & eccentrics : an A-Z of roguish Britons through the ages by William Donaldson (2002)

[Mark Ramsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "Shakespeare of toilet books"'s masterpiece. The best and most comprehensive of his A-Z funny books anyway.

[Becca Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book, it's huge but full of all of the great British eccentrics that this country has produced.

[Marek Waldorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Same author as Henry Root Letters, but more fun imo.

[Odhran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, if lacking context.