Jostling for position in this cornucopia of the criminal and the curious are diverse tales of baby farmers, garrotters, murderers, poisoners, prostitutes, pimps, rioters and rebels. Other tales tell of those who walked the poverty-stricken streets of 'the abyss', trying to earn a few honest coppers by the most unusual and desperate occupations, from tater man to tosher. This colourful cast of characters is accompanied by accounts of prisons and punishments, as well as a liberal smattering of funerals, executions, disasters and bizarre events. If it's horrible, if it's ghastly, if it's strange, its here - and if you have the stomach for it, then read on.

Neil R. Storey's macabre calendar chronicles the darker side of life in Essex. Murderers and footpads, pimps and prostitutes, riots, rebels, bizarre funerals, disaster and peculiar medicine all feature. The book is illustrated with engravings, newspaper reports, photographs and original documents. It is horrible, if it is ghastly, if it is strange, then it is here! If you have the stomach for it, then read on.

In 1826 'resurrection men' stole thirty bodies from the graveyard of St Mary's Church in Nottingham to sell to unscrupulous medical establishments in London. It emerged they had been shipping their cargo to the capital in wicker baskets booked aboard stagecoaches, but they were never caught. In 1908 Mansfield tattooist Arthur Scott attacked a customer who refused to pay his bill. Scott tracked his quarry down after two days and attempted to shoot him. He failed, but it didn't take the police long to find Scott - the only tattooist in Mansfield. On 7 June 1865 Thomas Whittaker left the bar of a Newark pub to visit the toilet in the backyard. As he returned he slipped from the top of a flight of wooden stairs and fell head first into a water butt. He drowned. When Retford eccentric John Clifton died in 1816 he left a deadly legacy. He had a life-long fascination for fireworks and made them for his friends. While sorting through John's things his sister found a tin of black powder, which she thought was worthless, and threw it on the fire. The resulting explosion killed her and demolished the house. A Grim Almanac of Nottinghamshire is a collection of stories from the county's past, some bizarre, some fascinating, some macabre – all absorbing. Revealed here are the dark corners of Nottinghamshire, where witches, body snatchers, highwaymen and murderers have stalked. Within the Almanac's pages we plumb the depths of past despair and peer over the rim of that bottomless chasm where demons lurk. Author Kevin Turton has pored over the historic records of the county to bring together these extraordinary accounts of past events.

"Ripper Notes: Murder by Numbers" is a collection of essays about the famous unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper and related topics. Wolf Vanderlinden's questions the conventional wisdom about the time of death of Annie Chapman, the second of Jack's generally accepted victims, by a careful examination of the medical evidence and contradictions in witness testimony. Amanda Howard compares serial killers like Andrei Chikatilo, the BTK strangler, Albert Fish and the Green River Killer to see what they might tell us about the Ripper case. Also, Jeffrey Bloomfield gives the details on two forgotten cases of prostitutes murdered in London a few years before the more famous 1888 killings, Bernard Brown discusses the police officer who thought he almost caught the Whitechapel murderer, Des McKenna asks whether witnesses confused two different women as being Mary Kelly (generally considered the last Ripper victim) and Robert J. McLaughlin reports on a Punch & Judy-like theatre performance based upon the murders. There are also several short pieces looking at the latest news in Ripperology, the boom in books about the case, and similar topics. Ripper Notes is a nonfiction anthology series covering all aspects of the Jack the Ripper case.

A Grim Almanac of Old Berkshire is a day-by-day catalogue of ghastly tales dating from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. Full of torment and torture, heinous homicides and cataclysms of nature, these pages contain multiple murders, horrendous hauntings and audacious thefts. Have you heard the story of the pub landlord who attempted to end it all by leaping down his own well? All he achieved was a broken ankle. Also featured here are the Watchfield farmer who tried to turn his wife into cooking fat, the family who charged people to view their relative's decapitated body, and the violent poltergeist activity that took place at the old forge at Finchampstead and made national news headlines in 1926. This compilation of grim deeds contains a veritable plethora of poisonings, assaults, drownings, kidnappings, suicides and disasters. If you have ever wondered about what nasty goings-on occurred in the Berkshire of yesteryear, then look no further – it's all here. But do you have the stomach for it?

Murder and crime is caused by greed, need, jealousy, desperation and insanity. London, the financial and capital city of England is no stranger to the excesses of its turbulent citizens – their past misdemeanours enrich the fabric of this great city. Here are some of the most infamous crimes committed in the capital in its long history. Tales are included from the dark recesses of the middle ages to the turbulent eighteenth century with its nascent press and the ‘great’ Victorian age where pleasures and vices ran hand in hand, where excesses dominated the London scene and social and economic extremes were the norm. The early twentieth century is also treated with some of the most high profile cases that have necessitated changes in the law. This book will appeal to everyone interested in true-crime and the shadier side of London's past.

A Grim Almanac of Manchester collects together 365 of the darkest tales from Manchester's history – terrifying true tales of riot, assault, murder and crime, of slums, disease, death and disaster. Compiled by Manchester historian and genealogist Michala Hume, this book is filled with amazing historical horrors ranging from the bizarre – such as the night a poisoned cake caused a sickness to sweep through Ancoats – to the horrific, like the tragic time twenty-three people were crushed to death attempting to escape a fire in the overcrowded Victoria Music Hall. Some of these incidents were resolved, but many remain mysteries to this day. Generously illustrated, this chronicle is an entertaining and absorbing record of Manchester's grim past. Read on ... if you dare!

Hugely respected, extensively quoted and widely regarded as the 'bible' of Ripper studies, The Complete Jack the Ripper A to Z is the ultimate reference for anyone fascinated by the Jack the Ripper mystery. This new, rewritten, up-to-date edition includes sources and well over 100 photographs.The Complete jack the Ripper A-Z has an entry for almost every person involved in the case, from suspects and witnesses to policemen and journalists, plus the ordinary people who became caught up in the unfolding drama.Written by three of the world's leading authorities on the case, it takes a completely objective look at theories old and new, describes all the key Ripper books and gives potted biographies of many of the authors.Whether you are new to the mystery of Jack the Ripper or an experienced 'Ripperologist' The Complete Jack the Ripper A-Z will keep you turning the pages. Fascinating and entertaining reading in its own right, it is the essential reference to have beside you when you venture into the dark alleys of Victorian Whitechapel.

In 1907, H.G. Wells published a science fiction novel called The War in the Air. It proved to be portentous. In the early years of the First World War, German lighter-than-air flying machines, Zeppelins, undertook a series of attacks on the British mainland. German military strategy was to subdue Britain, both by the damage these raids caused and by the terrifying nature of the craft that carried them out. This strategy proved successful. The early raids caused significant damage, many civilian casualties and provoked terror and anger in equal measure. But the British rapidly learnt how to deal with these futuristic monsters. A variety of defence mechanisms were developed: searchlights, guns and fighter aircraft were deployed, the British learnt to pick up the airships' radio messages and a central communications headquarters was set up. Within months aerial strategy and its impact on the lives of civilians and the course of conflict became part of human warfare. As the Chief of the Imperial German Naval Airship Division, Peter Strasser, crisply put it: 'There is no such thing as a non-combatant any more. Modern war is total war.' Zeppelin Blitz is the first full, raid-by-raid, year-by-year account of the Zeppelin air raids on Britain during the First World War, based on contemporary official reports and documents.