Entertaining romp through the villains of the early 18th century. Jonathan Wild was Britain's most notorious thief-taker, basically a habitual criminal who decided it was more profitable to play honest-broker and return stolen property (for a modest fee) to the victim even though it was his gang that had stolen it in the first place. He also had a secondary line in selling out his fellow criminals and even his own gang members to the authorities for a reward, and was apparently responsible for the hanging of up to 120 men. His gang included some of the elite of London's underworld, including Jack Sheppard, Nathaniel Hawes and William Burridge, all of whom ended up on the gallows. That fate eventually and inevitably fell to Wild as well, losing favour with his adoring public, he was arrested on a minor charge, sentenced to death, and after a failed suicide attempt went to the gallows at Tyburn being abused and pelted with filth by the crowds along the way. A short book, but highly entertaining, well worth the read if you are into crime of the days when simply stealing a handkerchief could see you dance the Tyburn hornpipe. ( )