Book description
Ever since the Kray twins invited John Pearson to write their
'official' biography more than forty years ago, he has been obsessed
with them. After they were jailed in 1969 for thirty years for murder,
Pearson's biography The Profession of Violence enjoyed a cult
following among the young and was said to be the most popular book in
H. M.'s prisons, after the Bible.
Ron died in 1995. Reg followed him five years later, and both of
their funerals drew crowds on a scale unknown for film stars, let
alone for two departed murderers. Since then, far from fading with
their death, public fascination with the twins has never flagged.
Their clothes and memorabilia are sold at auction like religious
relics. Ron's childlike prison paintings fetch more money than those
of many well-known artists. And people still refer to them like
popular celebrities. Why?
This is the question Pearson asked himself, and over the past three
years he has been re-examining their history, unearthing much
previously unknown material, and has come to some fascinating
conclusions. The Immortal Murderers reveals new facts about the
Krays' tortured relationship as identical twins; a relationship which
helped predestine them to a life of crime; a relationship that made
them utterly unlike any other major criminals. Pearson has discovered
two new and unsuspected murders, along with fresh light on the
killings of George Cornell and Jack 'the Hat' McVitie. There are facts
about the twins' obsession with publicity, and how far this made them
'actor criminals' murdering for notoriety. Most riveting of all are
the chapters which reveal how Ron Kray caused a major sexual scandal
in which a prime minister, together with other leading politicians,
condoned the most outrageous establishment cover-up in British
politics since the war.
The Immortal Murderers contains many more surprises, but the
one thing that emerges is that the Kray twins were not only stranger
but also far more important than anyone ever suspected. Fascination
with them will forever remain; they will never lose their role as the
immortal murderers.
John Pearson graduated from Peterhouse Cambridge with a double
first in History, then worked on the Economist Intelligence Unit and
as a BBC trainee producer before being offered a job by Ian Fleming as
his assistant on the 'Atticus' column for the Sunday Times.
Pearson is the author of- among others - the only authorised
biography of Ian Fleming, as well as bestselling The Profession of
Violence. His previous books with Century are One of the
Family: The Englishman and the Mafia and The Gamblers. He
lives in London and West Sussex
