The wicked boy : the mystery of a Victorian child murderer / Kate Summerscale.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Summerscale, Kate, 1965- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Coombes, Robert, 1882-1949--Childhood and youth.

Coombes, Robert.

Coombes, Nathaniel, 1883-1946--Childhood and youth.

Coombes, Nathaniel.

Coombes, Robert, 1882-1949--Trials, litigation, etc.

Coombes, Nathaniel, 1883-1946--Trials, litigation, etc.

Coombes, Nathaniel, 1883-1946.

Coombes, Robert, 1882-1949.

Juvenile homicide--England--London--History--19th century.

Juvenile homicide.

Murder--Investigation--England--London--History--19th century.

Murder.

Murder--Investigation.

History.

England--London.

Genre:

True crime stories.

Physical Description:

378 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, genealogical table, maps ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Penguin Press, 2016.

Summary:

In East London in the summer of 1895, Robert Coombes (age thirteen) and his brother Nattie (age twelve) were arrested for matricide and sent for trial at the Old Bailey. Robert confessed to having stabbed his mother, but his lawyers argued that he was insane. The judge sentenced him to detention in Broadmoor, the most infamous criminal lunatic asylum in the land. Shockingly, Broadmoor turned out to be the beginning of a new life for Robert. At a time of great tumult and uncertainty, Robert Coombes's case crystallized contemporary anxieties about the education of the working classes, the dangers of pulp fiction, and evolving theories of criminality, childhood, and insanity. With riveting detail and rich atmosphere, Summerscale re-creates this terrible crime and its aftermath, uncovering an extraordinary story of man's capacity to overcome the past. -- Adapted from book jacket.

Contents:

Part I: Ten days in July. The three of us ; All I know is that we are rich ; I will tell you the truth

Part II: The city of the damned. The machine and the abyss ; A kiss goodbye ; This is the knife ; Chronicles of disorder ; Here goes nothing

Part III: These tender times. Cover her face ; The boys springing up amongst us ; It is all over now ; Box him up

Part IV: The murderers' paradise. Those that know not what they do ; To have you home again ; In the plastic stage

Part V: With trumpets and sound of cornet. Smooth in the morning light ; Such a hell of a noise.

Notes:

First published in Great Britain by Bloomsbury Publishing.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-360) and index.

ISBN:

9781594205781

1594205787

OCLC:

929055994