{"title":"Nell Darby","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the enthralling world of Nell Darby, where true crime meets meticulous historical research. Perfect for fans of Judith Flanders and Lucy Worsley, explore chilling investigations from Britain's past.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"foul-deeds-and-suspicious-deaths-in-the-cotswolds-book-nell-darby-9781845630744","title":"Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in the Cotswolds","description":"Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in the Cotswolds explores the dark history of this famously picturesque region of England. Behind the picture-postcard idyll, everyday life in this largely rural area saw murders, beatings, jealousy and alcohol-fuelled crimes. Nell Darby's book examines a selection of these shocking events in vivid detail. Drawing on contemporary sources, newspapers and prison records, she gives a fascinating insight into life and death in the surprisingly turbulent past of the Cotswolds. The cases she reconstructs come from all over the region -  the towns, the villages, the countryside. They show how Cotswold people carried out violent crimes regardless of their location and upbringing - from unemployed farmers' sons to educated surgeons, dark deeds were committed by individuals from all walks of life. They also reveal the criminal consequences of greed, madness, malice, carelessness and drink. Women were involved almost as often as men, as victims and as perpetrators. Nell Darby's thoroughly researched and sympathetically written anthology of Cotswold cases be compelling reading for anyone who lives in the area or is interested in its history.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49507956031761,"sku":"GOR005186043","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50935465050385,"sku":"GOR005550475","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51283833684241,"sku":"GOR010876393","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1845630742.jpg?v=1751449326"},{"product_id":"history-of-women-s-lives-in-oxford-book-nell-darby-9781526717856","title":"A History of Women's Lives in Oxford","description":"Underneath the dreaming spires of Oxford's world-famous university, generations of women have lived their lives, fighting for the right to study there, and for a role within the city's educational, political and social spheres. Although a few of these women's names have been recorded for posterity, they have been largely because of their association with worthy or famous men; in this book, though, their own lives are detailed, along with those who have been largely omitted from history.  Women's lives have always been less recorded than those of men; where a woman helped her husband with his business, this help may not have been formally recorded in the census returns, and the details of jobs recorded there might not reflect the full scale of women's work and responsibilities. So here, learn about the variety of work women undertook; their education, their social lives, and their attempts to carve out a valuable role for themselves. Learn too of the problems they faced in living their lives: poverty, prison, suicide, or even murder. 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Whereas previously, women had been informal snoops within their communities, now they were getting paid for it, toeing a fine line between offering a useful service and betraying members of their sex for money.  Over the course of the next century, women became increasingly confident in gaining work as private detectives, moving from largely unrecognised helpers to the police and to male detectives, to becoming owners of their own detective agencies. In fiction, they were depicted as exciting creatures needing money and work; in fact, they were of varying ages, backgrounds and marital status, seeking adventure and independence as much as money. Former actresses found that detective work utilised their skills at adopting different roles and disguises; former spiritualists were drafted into denounce frauds and stayed to become successful private eyes; and several female detectives became keen supporters of the women's suffrage movement, having seen for themselves how career-minded women faced obstacles in British society.  These were groundbreaking women, working in the shadows, often unnamed in press reports. Even today, they are something of an unknown, yet of intense interest to the public, their work largely an enigma. 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It shows how the development of gossip columns and papers specialising in theatre coverage enabled fans to gain an insight into their favourite performers lives that broke down the public-private divide of the stage and helped to create a very modern celebrity culture. The book looks at how technological developments enabled the press to expose the behaviour of actors overseas, such as when actor Fred Solomon's' bigamy in America was revealed. It looks at the pressures facing actors, which could lead to suicide, and the impact of the 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act on what the newspapers covered  theatrical divorce cases coming to form a significant part of their coverage in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Other major events, from theatre disasters to the murder of actor William Terriss, are explored within the context of press reportage and its impact. 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What crimes were committed in this rural society in the past, and how were they punished? This book looks at the variety of punishments bestowed to miscreants – from being hanged from a portable gallows at the scene of a crime to transportation or hard labour – and why some were punished more than others. Evidence is taken from contemporary sources: prison records, newspaper accounts and broadsides that celebrated the lives and deaths of local characters. 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