Murder: The Biography (Paperback)
Kate Morgan (author)Published: 28/04/2022
In captivating prose filled with chilling detail, Morgan chronicles the legal history of homicide, showing how killers, victims, lawyers and judges have all played a part in making the UK murder law what it is today.
The crimes. The stories. The law.
Totally gripping and brilliantly told, Murder: The Biography is a gruesome and utterly captivating portrait of the legal history of murder.
The stories and the people involved in the history of murder are stranger, darker and more compulsive than any crime fiction. There's Richard Parker, the cannibalized cabin boy whose death at the hands of his hungry crewmates led the Victorian courts to decisively outlaw a defence of necessity to murder. Dr Percy Bateman, the incompetent GP whose violent disregard for his patient changed the law on manslaughter. Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in England in the 1950s, played a crucial role in changes to the law around provocation in murder cases. And Archibald Kinloch, the deranged Scottish aristocrat whose fratricidal frenzy paved the way for the defence of diminished responsibility. These, and many more, are the people - victims, killers, lawyers and judges, who unwittingly shaped the history of that most grisly and storied of laws.
Join lawyer and writer Kate Morgan on a dark and macabre journey as she explores the strange stories and mysterious cases that have contributed to UK murder law. The big corporate killers; the vengeful spouses; the sloppy doctors; the abused partners; the shoddy employers; each story a crime and each crime a precedent that has contributed to the law's dark, murky and, at times, shocking standing.
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780008407346
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 260 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 23 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Brisk and fascinating... as befits a lawyer, Morgan's real interest lies in the slippery concept of murder itself, which she carefully traces through the centuries.' - Sunday Times
'A fascinating new history of homicide... Kate Morgan's book is a detailed account of the subtle way that the law has changed over the years to embrace self-defence, insanity, diminished responsibility, medical incompetence, corporate manslaughter, dangerous driving, even death by bicycle.' - Daily Mail
'Kate Morgan's panoramic tour allows us to pull back and examine how our understanding is built on history, but also fiction and legend. Masterful.' - Judith Flanders, author of The Invention of Murder
'A page-turning read... A history that is framed by the Law but does not shy away from using popular culture and our endless fascination with murder and murderers to bring the story to life.' - Prof. David Wilson, author of Signs of Murder
'With Murder: The Biography author and lawyer Kate Morgan asks two essential questions: What exactly is the crime we know as murder? and how has it gained its current prominence in our criminal justice system? Weaving together fascinating historical cases and expert opinion on the subject, Morgan presents an account that will engross and titillate all those for whom murder is a passion...' - Vaseem Khan, author of Midnight at Malabar House
'Fascinating reading... The pages come alive as the author drops in details about some well-known crimes - such as Ruth Ellis and Derek Bentley, and other more obscure cases and how they changed public opinion about the law... Morgan's book will satisfy those who like grisly tales all in all it's an excellent book which I highly recommend.' - TotalCrime.co.uk
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“Superb”
I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of this and it is a great read.
Focusing on how the law around murder and manslaughter have developed in the UK, including the cases that forced changed, this is a gripping...
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“Absolutely brilliant!!”
What a brilliant and intricately detailed account of the crime of murder throughout history. A crime that holds an inexplicable fascination for so many, this book traces the very first definitions and highlights the... More
“Gripping, intelligent and never sensationalist”
What a fantastic book.
Murder: The Biography is consistently gripping without ever straying into sensationalism. Impeccably and thoroughly researched, it charts the evolution of murder from a legal standpoint - from...
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