Britain’s Private Investigators on Trial
In the 1970s private investigators in the UK came under attack for their distasteful methods and dubious legality. What did it mean to have a right to privacy?
Crime
England’s Prison Population Problems
In the early 20th century the prison population in England and Wales was in sharp decline, despite a rise in crime.
Execution of the Thief-Taker General
Britain’s self-styled ‘Thief-Taker General’ was not all he seemed. On 24 May 1725 Jonathan Wild was finally brought to justice.
Smuggling Under the Cover of Plague
For 18th-century smugglers in Guernsey and the Isle of Man, plague was a business opportunity.
The Otsu Incident
On 11 May 1891 the future Tsar Nicholas II narrowly escaped assassination on a trip to Japan.
Sex Workers and Salvation in the Renaissance
Renaissance Florence had a problem: it wanted female sex workers, but it also needed to offer them a way out. The solution was a new brothel district – and a nunnery for former prostitutes
An Unreported Murder in East Germany
In 1981, a horrific murder case required police in East Germany to go door-to-door collecting handwriting samples. There was no public outrage, because they were not told about the crime.
‘Naples 1343’ by Amedeo Feniello review
Naples 1343: The Unexpected Origins of the Mafia – Amedeo Feniello’s history of the Camorra – has this much in common with the case against them: it’s all about the evidence.
Archdruid William Price Challenges Funerary Rites
There was no law permitting cremation, but there was no law against it either. On 13 January 1884, a Welsh druid took the matter to trial.
The Long Debate on Assisted Dying
The issue of assisted dying was first put before Parliament in 1936. Many of the same questions remain, but the arguments have changed.