Queens of the Underworld

The incredible story of Britain's female gangsters from the seventeenth century to the present day. Robin Hood, Dick Turpin, Ronnie Biggs, the Kray brothers... All have become folk heroes, glamorised and romanticised, even when they killed. But where are their female equivalents? Where are the women who led gangs of pickpockets, formed Victorian crime syndicates and launched nationwide shoplifting gangs? Queens of the Underworld reveals the incredible story of female gangsters from the 17th century to the present. From Moll Cutpurse who ruled the criminal underworld in Jacobean London, to Mary Carr who led the Forty Elephants Gang in Victorian England, and Shirley Pitts who formed Britain's most successful shoplifting gang of the 20th century, these were charismatic women at the top of their game. Female criminals have often been dismissed as either not 'real women' or not real criminals, and in the process their stories have been lost - this book tells the truth about their lives for the first time. AUTHOR: Caitlin Davies is a novelist, non-fiction writer, award-winning journalist and teacher. She is the author of six novels, six nonfiction books, and several short stories. She has written for The Independent, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. Her books include 'Bad Girls: a History of Rebels and Renegades', a history of Holloway Prison, which has been optioned for a TV historical drama series. 20 b/w illustrations