Product Description

Taking its inspiration from the Brewer's tradition of recording unexpected and fascinating information that is not generally available in other reference books, 'Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics' presents a colourful, informative and entertaining A-Z of bizarre Britons through the ages: assassins and arsonists, buggers and bigamists, hangmen and horse-stealers, hell-raisers and highwaymen, plus an array of poisoners, quacks, forgers and others. Yesterday's whoremasters and harlots rub shoulders with the defrocked parsons and dodgy geezers of contemporary Brtain in this richly entertaining dictionary of degradation, depravity and dottiness. A rich repository of arcane but fascinating information, it will make the perfect Christmas present for anyone who loves history, biography and 'Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #228102 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 640 pages

Review
We've had some excellent coverage for this book. Willie was on LOOSE ENDS (BBC Radio 4) on 28 September and has also done the following local radio interviews THE DAVID PRIVA SHOW (LBC), THE ROBERT ELMS SHOW (BBC LONDON LIVE), THEBRIAN MORTON SHOW (BBC RADIO SCOTLAND), THREE COUNTIES RADIO and BBC RADIO LEICESTER. The following local radio stations have run competitions with the book - BBC RADIO GUERNSEY, BBC RADIO NOTTINGHAM, BBC HEREFORD & WORCESTER,SCOT FM, BBC RADIO SOLENT, BBC WILTSHIRE SOUND. The excellent interview withWillie ran in the INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY magazine on 27 October and last month he was featured in the INDEPENDENT'S Passed/Failed slot. We've had diary stories in THE DAILY EXPRESS, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH and BOOKSELLER. John Walsh gave it a wonderful plug in his column in THE INDEPENDENT as has Terence Blacker in his column Reviews have been excellent 'This is not a serious book by any means, but it is a welcome relief from the usual hagiographies found in Debrett's and Who's Who, which will set very comfortably on the bookshelves of those who have given up hope of an entry in either.'Ross Golden Bannon, THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POST 'I have not laughed so much in years, nor been so relieved that I did not know an author. You enter the world of William Donaldson at yourperil.'Byron Rogers, THE SPECTATOR 'This is probably the greatest bathroom book yet written.'Steve Jelbert, THE TIMES 'The most unputdownable anthology.... there's much to savour about this volume'John Walsh, THE INDEPENDENT 'In this breathtaking triumph of misdirected scholarship, Donaldson has found the ideal outlet for his splenetic wit and healthy disrespect for the great and the good.'Robert Chalmers, THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'This new 600-page encyclopedia is the funniest book of the year, and quite possibly of all time.'Francis Wheen, THE WEEK 'There is plenty here to titillate and entertain...... ifyou are curious to know who bottle-fed a porpoise in a railway waiting room (Francis Trevelyan Buckland), or which king died after being bitten by a monkey (Prince Phillip's father), or whose feet were cut off so that he could fitinto his sarcophagus (the 10th Duke of Hamilton) or which hangman later became a hairdresser (John Ellis), then this book is for you. It will make a goodbog-book, with oodles of human quiddity and notoriety to detain you.'Christopher Silvester, THE EXPRESS 'This book aims to catalogue the infamous and egregious from the 'undergrowth' of British and Irish history, and it certainly achieves this.'Charlie Campbell, LITERARY REVIEW 'The publishers wanted a 'browsable and addictive collection of pen portraits of 1,500 extraordinary characters' and Donaldson's flair for finding the extraordinary has fulfilled this brief amply - giving readers a glorious gawp into the lives of outsiders and outlaws past and present.'THE BIG ISSUE BREWER'S ROGUES VILLAINS AND ECCENTRICS has also been mentioned in a number of Christmas round-ups. We had an extremely successful launch on Tuesday 8 October at the Pan Bookshop in the Fulham Road, with a wonderful array of villains and eccentrics there from Frankie Fraser to Sebastian Hawsley.

About the Author
Willie Donaldson has led an extraordinary and colourful life - from his privileged public-school education to an untidy lifestyle in the company of pop stars, actors, models and others. He is the author of the various volumes in the 'Henry Root' series and of numerous other humorous titles.

Customer Reviews

AS ECCENTRIC AS THE CHARACTERS IT DESCRIBES
If ever there was a case of art imitating life this must be it. Into over 650 pages the author has crammed a bewildering assortment of human flotsam and jetsam, relieving the alphabetical nature of the enterprise by a deliberately droll indexing system. It is the ideal bedside companion, which might equally well while away the tedium of visits to the smallest room, or provide an evening's entertainment for a broadminded dinner-party.

Older readers may recall William Donaldson's earlier incarnation as the perpetrator of that magnificent spoof the Henry Root Letters, and if this parade of practitioners of the darker side of human nature appeals then you'd do well to seek out that collection also.

this is the most unputdownable book ever!
Simply fabulous - pick it up and you're hooked. A wonderful insight into the lives of the infamous, from mass murderers to rock star hellraisers. But more than that - it's the wonderful cross-referencing which really grabs you as you flip through. For instance, I defy anyone not to turn immediately to an entry which is referenced as 'largest collection of bondage pornography in Western Europe - See Edinburgh, Philip Duke of'. See what I mean?

Perfect gift. If you can stand to give it away.

MY GOD THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK
THIS BOOK IS AWESOME AND ITS SO FUNNY WHEN YOU READ ABOUT
THAT STUPID HANGMAN IN THE 1700'S IT WAS JUST LIKE A CHARACTER
FROM A CARRY ON MOVIE I GOT THIS FROM A HARROW LIBRARY SO I GET
MONEY NEXT WEEK I WILL BUY THIS BOOK AND ITS A GOOD PRICE