Vicious, Elegant Bastards

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A01=Jacky Hyams
armed robbery
arson
Author_Jacky Hyams
broadmoor
Category=DNBH
Category=DNXC
Category=JKVM
criminals
east end
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
forthcoming
gangs
gangsters
kimmie smith
kray twins
lily shea
mad teddy smith
murder
organised crime
reggie kray
reginald kray
ronald kray
ronnie kray
the truth behind the legend of the krays
west end

Product details

  • ISBN 9781837053148
  • Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
  • Publication Date: 27 Aug 2026
  • Publisher: The History Press Ltd
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Paperback
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They ruled the streets of London in the 1960s. Half a century later, Ronnie and Reggie Kray, unrepentant purveyors of violence and murder, hold more fascination than ever before.

Portrayed as charismatic gangsters on the big screen, the saga of the twins, their firm and their thirty-odd years behind bars is one that is determinedly and deliberately embellished with every passing year. Yet it is only recently that the stark, unvarnished truth about the twins has started to emerge after being so cunningly concealed behind the façade of charitable deeds and East End loyalties.

Bestselling author Jacky Hyams has carefully re-examined some of the stories, the lies and the myths to reveal a very different portrait of the twins and those closest to them. She reveals the complexity of their relationships and their closest bonds, and contests the police’s belief that Ronnie Kray senselessly murdered ‘one of their own’.

Ronnie Kray is said to have described he and his twin as ‘vicious, elegant bastards’. It is one of the few truths ever uttered by either of them.

JACKY HYAMS is the bestselling author of Bombsites and Lollipops (John Blake, 2011). More recently, she has written Frances Kray: The Tragic Bride (John Blake, 2014) and Vicious, Elegant Bastards (The History Press, 2022).

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