The Guv'nors - True Crime BooksThe ten Scotland Yard detectives, featured in The Guv'nors, are unique. Such a group of intrepid crime-busters will never exist again. They possessed only the most rudimentary education; none had a degree. Intuition and knowledge of their 'manor' counted for more than DNA and databases. They worked tirelessly in the pursuit of criminals, used informants, worked on hunches and grabbed hold of investigations and shook them until every piece of evidence was unearthed. Criminals trembled when these detectives were after them because, once they were nicked, they stayed nicked.rnrnThe Guv'nors covers legends such as Fred Wensley, who nailed strips of bicycle tyres to the soles of his boots when on the look-out for Jack the Ripper. He later formed the Flying Squad and became chief constable of the CID. Fred Sharpe would single-handedly confront forty of the worst racetrack gangsters and tell them to 'clear off', anyone who refused would collect a punch on the jaw. Sharpe later became head of the Flying Squad, as did Bob Fabian, who was awarded the King's Police Medal for dismantling an IRA bomb.rnrnBert Wickstead, known as 'The Gangbuster', literally terrorised the gangs who attempted to fill the void in London's East End, after the demise of the Kray bothers.
rnrnThis is a book which will delight those who want to know what life was like when The Guv'nors and others like them were in charge of law and order and the streets were far safer than they are today.rnrnDick Kirby was born in the East End of London and joined the Metropolitan Police in 1967. Half of his twenty-six years' service was spent with Scotland Yard's Serious Crime Squad and the Flying Squad. The author of Rough Justice, The Real Sweeney, You're Nicked! and Villains, Kirby also contributes to newspapers and magazines on a regular basis, as well as appearing on television and radio.rnrnIn retirement, he lives near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.