Product Description

'People say that truth is stranger than fiction, and in my casc it is definitely so. Who would believe, looking at me today, that most of my years have been spent in a sinister underworld of crime, corruption and murder? A gangland world where the famous and the infamous - including stars like Frank Sinatra and politicians - and the most notorious criminals in British history not only socialised but did business together.' The Brutal Truth is a startling and sensational account of a world far removed from normal, everyday life - the world of gangster Eric Mason, one of the underworld's most feared and respected figures. One thing Eric Mason soon learned was how to look after himself, a necessary skill during terrible years in a home for young dclinquents. He moved on from there to form associations with, among others, the Kray twins, Frank Mitchell (the 'Mad Axeman'), Jack 'the Hat' McVitie, John McVicar and the Great Train Robbery gang. The Brutal Truth treads where no other books dare as Mason describes his 'time' in the most brutal prisons in Britain: Brixton, Dartmoor, Wandsworth, Strangeways...He portrays his spell in Wandsworth's famous 'E' wing, where he listened to the footsteps of condemned men waiting to be hanged, and the haunting sound of the gallows trapdoor banging against the cell wall. It tells the real truth about penal establishments - the torture, corruption, injustice, the homosexuality and sadism that pervade the whole system. Some of the stories here have never been told before. Some of them could never have been told before. Here are tales about Britain's most notorious prisoners, politicians, villains, perverts, con-men, film stars, bank robbers and racketeers. Eric Mason talks about them all. He tells us the whole truth and nothing but the brutal truth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #449104 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
Eric Mason lives in Manchester. His last lengthy sentence was for bank robbery. He is now retired.

Customer Reviews

Fifties London from another one who saw it all
I found this book to be somewhat of a disappointment. Eric Mason is genuinely held in high regard by the 'chaps' of Britain's underworld; but he hasn't managed a rip-roaring and detailed account of his life. Major events that the reader would enjoy hearing from his unique perspective are swiftly passed over; the whole book suffering from constant name-dropping. In fact the last two chapters tell us nothing of Mason apart from who his friends are!

Worth a read but then again...it really could have used a good co-author to knit everything together and properly tell the big stories you know are so close but left untold.

Mrs G. Etherington's review of 'Brutal Truth'
This work is a must for anyone fascinated by the underworld and life of crime lived by the hard men who live by their own rules and standards and who often die by them. I found some of the events in Eric Mason's life almost mythical and beyond belief but his frank and unpadded style makes this turbulent autobiographical account very credible and highly charged. The author is a tough, proud, slightly arrogant character but extremely fair and a real gentleman with old-fashioned values that his generation relates to very well. We learn that this man is anti-establishment but not anti-humanity, he never gives in to bullying tactics and therefore commands the utmost respect from his fellow men. He is frightened of no-one and how many of us can truthfully say that? Probably the most important point for him to get across was making people aware of the diabolical state of the penal system in this country in the 50's and 60's and inspite of his inhuman treatment by the prison authorities and their determination to break him (which they never did and bearing in mind that if he robbed a few banks today, he would be sent on a holiday at the tax payers' expense!) he never whinges and takes everything in his stride even when the barbaric cat o' nine tails was meted out to him. A big plus for me is Mr Mason's sense of humour which glides impishly through the chapters and just when the tension is mounting a big proverbial grin breaks through to make you laugh and relax. At the end of his story he has the courage to face his past mistakes with no regrets, treating losses and gains with equanimity and looking forward to a new fulfilling future. A must for the discerning reader and I cannot wait for the sequel - I hope there will be one!

The Brutal Truth
The book started off okay but eventually I started skipping pages as it was getting a bit boring. A lot of what was written could have been left out as it was of no interest. I expected it to be all about his life in prison but most of it is just all name dropping with bits and pieces thrown in about his life behind bars. It took me a good few weeks to read the book which I found a struggle near the end as I got borde reading it and would leave it for days before lifting up and reading it again. I dont know how one person who has left a review claims you can hardly put the book down once you start reading it as in my opinion you can hardly keep it up before falling asleep due to being borde reading it. Eric Mason could have done better and in my opinion this is just another Ex con jumping on the band wagon. If you want to read a good book looking at the real brutal truth , I have given this book 2 points and that is at a push.