Jan Bondeson: 10 books

The Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, a major figure in world politics and an ardent opponent of apartheid, was shot dead on the streets of Stockholm in February 1986. At the time of his death, Palme was deeply involved in Middle East diplomacy and was working under UN auspices to end the Iran-Iraq...

When Jack the Ripper first terrorized the streets of London, the Daily Telegraph reported that his crimes were as ghastly as those committed by Eliza Grimwood's murderer. Grimwood was a high-class prostitute, and on May 26, 1838 she brought a client home with her. The next morning she was found with...

After her coronation in 1838, Queen Victoria was a frightened young woman. She was relentlessly pursued by a weird teenager, Edward, 'the Boy' Jones, who had an uncanny ability to sneak into Buckingham Palace without being detected. Once, he broke into her bedroom and stole her underwear, and at least...

Jack the Ripper is the quintessential Victorian serial killer, and the debate continues with regard to the number of his victims. But there is a profusion of unsolved murders of London women from late Victorian times, and this book presents 11 of the most gruesome and mysterious of them. Marvel at...

No visitor to Edinburgh will miss the monument to Scotland's most famous dog, the little Skye terrier Greyfriars Bobby. This amazing dog, the most faithful in the world, kept vigil at his master's grave for fourteen long years. Many children's books, and three successful films, have been inspired...

Which of Greater London’s most gruesome murders happened in your street? And were they committed by Graham Frederick Young (the poisoner of the North Circular Road), by the murderous Donald Hume, or by that monster Dennis Nilsen? Sometimes quiet suburban terraces hide the most terrible secrets......

In that stately Fitzrovia house, the butler was murdered by a disgruntled pantry-boy; in that one, a king’s housekeeper lost her life. In that Kensington flat, a demented playboy murdered a prostitute for kicks; in that Gloucester Road basement, ‘Acid Bath’ Haigh was busy digesting the bodies...

In the 1750s, the Learned English Dog was a sensation in London: this spelling and calculating border collie was even thought to be a reincarnation of Pythagoras. The acting Newfoundland dog Carlo, active in London from 1803 until 1811, had plays specially written for him, involving tackling villains,...

South London has a long and blood-spattered history of capital crime and many of its murder houses still stand today. There are many forgotten murders in South London, where only the murder house remains... Murder mysteries fill the pages of this book – some of them celebrated crimes, like the murder...

This book features fifty-six Victorian cases of murder covered in the sensational weekly penny journal the Illustrated Police News between 1867 and 1900. Some of them are famous, like the Bravo Mystery of 1876, the Llangibby Massacre of 1878 and the Mrs Pearcey case of 1890; others are little-known,...