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Profession of Violence: Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins
by: John Pearson

List Price: £8.99

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Used Price: £1.70
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 364
EAN: 9780006383710
ISBN: 0006383718
Label: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: January 09, 1995
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Studio: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Sales Rank: 25415

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A Way of Life: Over Thirty Years of Blood, Sweat and Tears

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- The Best Kray Book So Far
I have read all the books about Reg & Ron and without doubt this is the best of the bunch.
The author gets inside the minds of the twins and shows that both were into the showbiz side of crime.
They loved the theatre of the Underworld and lived their lives like being on the set of a film.
I cant wait to read `Uncle Reg & Uncle Ron` by author Garry Johnson who although not a `nephew` is a relative of Reg and Ronnie Kray and will be revealing exclusive stories about the family.
His book is said to be the true story of The Twins and will make a brilliant film.

Rating:

- You won't believe it can be true
The story of how two working class boys from the East End rose to become two of the most powerful men in Britain is quite astonishing. That they ran rings around the establishment to this extent is really beyond belief. This is the book that converted me to the "truecrime" cause and reads as well as any thriller.
Once you've enjoyed this one move on to the Cult of Violence where the really fascinating stuff comes out - "Profession" was written when the twins were alive, "Cult" after they died.
You can see why some see them as heores . More accurately they were villains but, even so, this is a remarkable story

Rating:

- So good I've read it about four times now
This book was written in the 60's when the Krays were still at large so there are obvious inaccuracies as Mr Kirby points out. This was why Pearson followed it a few years ago with The Cult of Violence (... after they'd both died so the real secrets could come out!).

This book is truly awesome and I recommend it to anyone. I first read it about 14 years ago and I've re-read it so many times since as it's just such an amazing story. The twins themselves were nostalgic to the point that they were almost an anachronism... but to read it now... well, it's just a different world.

Highly, highly recommended - as well as the aforementioned Cult of Violence.

Rating:

- Rather short on accuracy
Mr. Pearson has a very attractive style of writing (his biography of Ian Fleming is very readable) but dear me, he's not too strong on accuracy.

Two pages stand out for sheer inaccuracy, in particular. When the Krays were acquitted of demanding money with menaces at Esmerelda's Barn in 1965 and 'Nipper' Read went to their celebration party, Mr. Pearson states that "it was a good time to meet the Twins at last." He appears to forget that it was Read who arrested and gave evidence against them. He also states that Read was photographed toasting Ronnie Kray with champagne and this photograph was circulated in London newspapers the next day and, as a result there was an immediate enquiry by Scotland Yard which eventually cleared Read ... Read More:

Rating:

- Want to know what the Krays were really like???
Fantastic - I was given this as a present and its one of my favourite books ever. It toes the line between admiration and revulsion for the twins and their lifestyle. Well-researched and brilliantly written by a journalist initially approached by the Krays (just prior to their arrest) to write their life story. Little did he know what he had stumbled on! It records the lives of the twins in extraordinary detail, minus all those sensational headlines. It tries to explain how they became what they were, and gives a real sense of the bizarre double standards of the old East End. I was hooked.

Books : Profession of Violence: Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins