A General History of the Lives, Murders and Adventures of the Most Notorious Rogues by Captain Charles Johnson

A General History of the Lives, Murders and Adventures of the Most Notorious Rogues by Captain Charles Johnson

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A General History of the Lives, Murders and Adventures of the Most Notorious Rogues by Captain Charles Johnson

Buoyed by the runaway success of his bestselling A General History of the Pirates (1724), Captain Charles Johnson went on to publish a much-expanded edition of the work to include a further 80 accounts of some of the most extraordinary British criminals of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries entitled A General History of the Lives and Adventures of the Most Famous Pirates, Highwaymen, Murderers, Street-Robbers, &c. (1734). He added further pirate biographies but expanded the cast to include a ferocious band of ruthless and vicious highwaymen, murderers, and wider criminals. Johnson's volumes, featuring fictional accounts based on factual sources, are significant as the forerunners of the real-life criminal biography genre, and for their influence on such early novels as Defoe's Moll Flanders and Fielding's Jonathan Wild but equally resonate right through to the present day inspiring the fiction of Ben Aaronovich and Jake Arnott. Originally published in folio size complete with fine engravings, this new collection of rogues includes the very best of these original decorative plates but also presents a series of related illustrations, playbills, and portraits from the British Library collections.
The identity of Captain Charles Johnson has long been a mystery. Suspected as a pseudonym for Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, or even as a pirate himself, neither has ever been confirmed. His books are the prime source of information on the great age of piracy and road adventurers and have inspired numerous plays, books and films including Treasure Island, Peter Pan and Pirates of the Caribbean.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780712353397
ISBN 10 0712353399
Title A General History of the Lives, Murders and Adventures of the Most Notorious Rogues
Author Captain Charles Johnson
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher British Library Publishing
Year published 2021-09-16
Number of pages 400
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable