Great and Horrible News
Murder and Mayhem in Early Modern Britain
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Great and Horrible News
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Keeble
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By:
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Blessin Adams
About this listen
‘Grimly fascinating … engrossing’ Daily Mail
NINE HISTORIC CRIMES. ONE FAMILIAR OBSESSION.
In early modern England, murder truly was most foul. Trials were gossipy events packed to the rafters with noisome spectators. Executions were public proceedings which promised not only gore, but desperate confessions and the grandest, most righteous human drama. Bookshops saw grisly stories of crime and death sell like hot cakes.
This history unfolds the true stories of murder, criminal investigation, early forensic techniques, high court trials and so much more.
In thrilling narrative, we follow a fugitive killer through the streets of London, citizen detectives clamouring to help officials close the net. We untangle the mystery of a suspected staged suicide through the newly emerging science of forensic pathology. We see a mother trying to clear her dead daughter’s name while other women faced the accusations – sometimes true and sometimes not – of murdering their own children.
These stories are pieced together from original research using coroner’s inquests, court records, parish archives, letters, diaries and the cheap street pamphlets that proliferated to satisfy a voracious public.
These intensely personal stories portray the lives of real people as they confronted the extraordinary crises of murder, infanticide, miscarriage and suicide. Many historical laws and attitudes concerning death and murder may strike us as exceptionally cruel, and yet many still remind us that some things never change: we are still fascinated by narratives of murder and true crime, murder trials today continue to be grand public spectacles, female killers are frequently cast as aberrant objects of public hatred and sexual desire, and suicide remains a sin within many religious organisations and was a crime in England until the 1960s.
Great and Horrible News! explores the strange history of death and murder in early modern England, yet the stories within may appear shockingly familiar.
©2023 Blessin Adams (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
‘Grimly fascinating…vivid detail… The early moderns were obsessed by stories of death, crime and justice,’ Adams states in her introduction. Her book, which covers the two centuries between 1500 and 1700, proves her point with a succession of grisly but engrossing cases’ Daily Mail
‘A true crime treat from former police officer Blessin Adams. Great and Horrible News looks at what we can learn from early modern Britain when it comes to justice and criminality’ Janice Hallett
‘Bleakly fascinating . . . police investigator turned academic Blessin Adams explores nine historic crimes . . . stimulating non-fiction’ Independent, BEST BOOKS OF MARCH
‘This gory history of crime shows that our obsession with lurid podcasts is nothing new . . . Adams, a police officer turned historian, has poured over coroners’ inquest records, court documents, pamphlets, newspaper articles, parish archives, ballads, wills, letters and diaries to restage nine grim stories of crime in England between 1500 and 1700. As an ex-copper, Adams is greatly interested in developments in forensic pathology in this period, which are superbly reconstructed from the sources’ The Times
‘Perfect for fans of true-crime, this is a bone-chilling and brilliantly researched account of murder, cruelty, and scandal in Tudor and Stuart Britain. I couldn’t put it down, but I sincerely regret reading it alone in the countryside. A fantastic debut’ Gareth Russell, author of Young and Damned and Fair
What listeners say about Great and Horrible News
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Carolina Sanchez Ignacio
- 14-01-24
The well conducted research
Thought this was a well researched, well thought out book. Covers cases one would not expect to be written about as they aren’t like Jack the Ripper. Also, it shows our utter fascination with the macabre and other people’s misfortunes and misdeeds
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 23-02-24
I absolutely loved this. Fascinating how things were done back then and how trails were conducted.
Very informative and well delivered I didn't want it to end it will stay with me for a while.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Geoffrey Sleight
- 31-12-23
Fascinating tales
Tales of mayhem, murder and death that provide a fascinating insight into the history and moral judgement of the early moderns. A great listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Spitfire
- 01-01-24
Truly fascinating
Such an interesting topic. From dawning procedural thinking to early forensics, the stories reveal many subjects that I have not been made aware of anywhere else. I hope there are more stories to come as this book kept me enthralled throughout. I especially considered the midwife tale as something to be written up for a thrilling movie.
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- beetroot
- 04-01-24
Fascinating, well told stories.
Great listen. Can dip in and out for each chapter. Not unnecessarily gory, but fascinating and well told. Good narrator too.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- S. E. Prenderbear
- 01-04-23
A SHOCKINGLY good listen.
I love listening to historical podcasts and books while sewing goblins! I came across this book when listening to Blessin Adams being interviewed on a history Hits. As soon as the podcast had finished I headed straight to Audible and downloaded her book. It is full of amazing stories the like of which I haven’t come across before - some are funny, others heartbreaking, some are pretty gory, (all are brilliantly sympathetically told). I loved it and recommend completely.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mrs Bucket
- 17-07-23
Brilliant book and fantastic reader !
I enjoyed this book so much,I do hope Blessin goes on to produce more books like this ! The reader is amazing and probably the best Ive listened to on Audible !
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Lex
- 23-10-23
Absolutely excellent
Very interesting stories I have never heard before.
Very well researched.
The excellent narration was the icing on the cake!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Andrew
- 27-11-23
Good - although some similar stories
Narrated great and stories are very interesting although some repetion in themes of the stories told. Really good still and worth a listen!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Jill Desborough
- 26-01-24
Fabulous narration and wonderful writing
A fascinating series of historical accounts, faultlessly read. You get a sense of deep research into these nuanced but tragic individual stories and I feel I've learned much.
Highly recommended
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