Samuel Herbert Dougal was intelligent, talented, and the recipient of a military medal. Outwardly, he seemed to embody all that Victorian England valued most. But he was also a career criminal whose appetite for sex and money propelled him through scandal after scandal; through the courts, prisons and asylums; and from woman to vulnerable woman. In 1903, the unexplained disappearance of Dougal's latest inamorata, a wealthy spinster named Miss Holland, began to excite public speculation. A tireless hunt for the missing lady commenced, but, having been arrested on a sample charge of forgery, Dougal simply decided to wait it out. Meanwhile, on the outside, his real wife, Sarah, who had been the beneficiary of Dougal's schemes over the course of a decade, had her own plans to escape official scrutiny. Would Miss Holland's whereabouts be discovered? And who, if anyone, would be held to account for her disappearance?

Samuel Herbert Dougal had a successful military career lasting over 20 years in the Royal Engineers, where he rose to the rank of Quartermaster-Sergeant. But he was also a forger, embezzler, thief, arsonist, serial womaniser and murderer. After leaving the army he preyed on well-off older women and one of them – Camille Cecile Holland – would become the central figure and victim of the Moat Farm Murder. In 1899, Dougal persuaded her to purchase Coldhams Farm, an isolated property at Clavering, Essex, which they renamed “The Moat Farm” and which she supposed was to be their love-nest. Instead, she disappeared shortly after they moved in, with Dougal reporting that she had gone travelling on a sudden whim. He also installed his real wife Sarah at the Moat Farm; she was his third wife and it is likely that he poisoned both the others while serving in Canada. He then began to systematically ransack Miss Holland’s bank account using forged cheques, as well as selling off her substantial investments with forged letters to brokers and putting the farm into his own name. The womanising continued unabated and became the stuff of local legend. Four years later, when Miss Holland’s funds were used up, Dougal tried to flee the country but was arrested at the Bank of England trying to change high value banknotes. After an unsuccessful attempt at escape on the way to the police station, he remained in custody for several months while an unsatisfactory trial for fraud dragged on before the Magistrates Bench. At last the police decided to look for a body, spending weeks to no avail dragging the moats which surrounded the farmhouse. At the very moment when the trial for fraud hung on a thread, Miss Holland was discovered in a filled-in drainage ditch with a bullet in her skull. Public hysteria was at fever-pitch and sightseers came in thousands from all over England. An inquest and trial for murder followed swiftly; Dougal was convicted and executed in July 1903. His last word was “Guilty”.

Known across the UK as ‘The Moat Farm Murder,’ ‘The Secret of Moat Farm’ sees Wallace as his investigative-journalist best. At the age of 28, the author was sent to cover the developments in this true-crime story. In 1903, Camille Holland and Samuel Dougal apparently went on a shopping trip. However, suspicions arose when Dougal returned alone, saying that Camille had caught a train to London. Wallace offers insights into the criminal mind, alongside all the facts that made this one of the most gripping and tragic stories of its time. A must for fans of true-crime such as Netflix's ́Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer ́, and those who want an introduction to Wallace’s work. Born in London, Edgar Wallace (1875 – 1932) was an English writer so prolific that his publisher claimed that he was responsible for a quarter of all books sold in England. Leaving school at the age of 12, Wallace made his first steps into the literary world by selling newspapers on the corner of Fleet Street. He worked as a war correspondent after joining the army at age 21, which honed his writing abilities. This led to the creation of his first book ‘The Four Just Men.’ Wallace is best remembered as the co-creator of ‘King Kong,’ which has been adapted for film 12 times (most notably directed by ‘Lord of the Rings’ director, Peter Jackson, and starring Jack Black and Naomi Watts). However, he leaves behind an extensive body of work, including stories such as ‘The Crimson Circle’ and ‘The Flying Squad’.

Over the centuries, proximity to major routes\-\-\-the Great North Road, the Icknield Way, and Watling Street\-\-\-has made Bedfordshire strategically important. Iron Age hillforts occupied significant locations, and castles consolidated Norman control after 1066. In later medieval times, two major events occurred: in 1224, the siege of Bedford Castle marked Henry III’s attempt to reimpose royal authority after the chaos of John’s reign; and the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461 was a major defeat for the Yorkists. During the wars of the twentieth century, the county’s industrial base supported the armies fighting overseas. In the First World War, the county contributed significantly to the birth of the RAF as well as provided the base for the Home Defence armies. In the Second World War, its airfields despatched RAF and USAAF bombers over the continent, but the major activity was the secret war largely associated with the Bedford Triangle. After 1945, aeronautical research continued at RAF Thurleigh\/Twinwood Farm and electronic intelligence\-gathering was developed at Chicksands. \x27Defending Bedfordshire\x27 seeks to explain the significance of this dense concentration of military sites to be found in a relatively small county.

“First class . . . a book that helps the reader to understand just what the ordinary soldier thought about his lot in the Great War.” —The Western Front Association This is a most unusual chronicle of the events of one man during the Great War. A professional soldier at the outbreak, Edward Roe was one of the first to cross over to France in 1914 and as such fought in the early battles of the war and took part in the Retreat from Mons. He was there for the crossing of the Marne and Aisne, the dreadful fighting at Ploegsteert and for the extraordinary events during the first Christmas. Remarkably he witnessed the debacle at Gallipoli and was part of the rear-guard of the Army during the re-embarkation and evacuation of the Peninsula. Thereafter the scene shifts to Mesopotamia and the Tigris Corps in the attempt to relieve General Townshend at Kut. Wounded he returned for the final campaign that captured Baghdad. “The author of these unique and extraordinarily moving diaries, which are supported by excellent maps and footnotes, was Edward Roe, an Irishman who had already served nine years with the British Army by the outbreak of the first world war.” —The Times

Boydell & Brewer are pleased to announce that as from 1 December 2001 they will be distributing the Victoria County History, which has an international reputation as a work of reference for English local history. Begun in 1899, the publication of about three new volumes each year is gradually creating an encyclopedic history of the counties, ranging from earliest times to the present. For each county there is or is planned a set of volumes, containing general chapters on subjects such as prehistory and ecclesiastical and economic history, and topographical chapters giving a comprehensive, fully referenced account of each city, town and village in the county. Fourteen county sets have been completed; work is in progress on a further thirteen.