Charles Kray

The life and times of Charlie Kray, who was the elder brother to the far more infamous Kray Brothers - Reggie and Ronnie -who, depending on your point of view, ran, terrorized, made safe, or simply lived in teh East End of London in the 60s.

This is the 3rd edition of Charlies (ghostwritten) autobiography. It is substantially amended and updated from the earliest versions written more than a decade before. It contains material about crimes the twins commited (and later admitted to) that wasn't in the public domain at the time of the first edition, and being truly ghostwritten goes on beyond Charlie's death to the reactions, at his funeral, of people who knew him best.

The writing style is light and easily readable, the gramme - as can be seen from the title - may not be formally correct, but does give a good feel for how someone growing up in the rough end of london would speak and live. It is always perfectly intelligble. Charlie comes across as an innocent, framed by the police to help keep his brothers in check. Even they are not portrayed as the absolute villains that common media reports would have you believe. I am sure that Charlie saw the world thorugh rose tinted glasses, and equally that the media are seldom to be trusted or correct when a sensational headline is possible. Where the truth actually lies is hard to say unless you were there and lived through it. Charlie admits to be being an adulterer, running gambling dens (when it was illegal) and many other minor sins. He was convicted of assisting in murder, and runnign drugs, both of which he maintained up until his death (unlike his brothers who did admit their crimes), that he was innocent.

For an autobiography, very little of the book is about Charlie on his own. His life, and everyone around them, was dominated by the infamous twins. There are odd asides, and moments when they were not speaking, where he woud relate annecdotes purely invovling himsel or his love life, but shortly the twins would feature again. Some of this is purely a money making exercise - Charlie was always broke by is own admission, and the twins will always sell better than he alone could do - but also it odes come across how strongly connected they were as a family.

engaging and enjoyable read - interesting for the insights into 60s London, and the honest accounts of life behind bars.… (meer)