The wicked boy : the mystery of a Victorian child murderer / Kate Summerscale.
Publication details: New York : Penguin Press, 2016.Description: 400 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cmISBN:- 9781594205781 (hc.)
- Coombes, Robert, 1882-1949 -- Childhood and youth
- Coombes, Robert, 1882-1949 -- Trials, litigation, etc
- Coombes, Nathaniel, 1883-1946 -- Childhood and youth
- Coombes, Nathaniel, 1883-1946 -- Trials, litigation, etc
- Coombes, Emily -- Death and burial
- Broadmoor Hospital (Crowthorne, England)
- Juvenile homicide -- England -- London -- History -- 19th century
- Parricide -- England -- London -- History -- 19th century
- Murder -- Investigation -- England -- London -- History -- 19th century
- Trials (Murder) -- England -- London -- 19th century -- Case studies
- Insanity defense -- Case studies
- Penny dreadfuls -- Influence -- Case studies
- Pulp literature -- Influence -- Case studies
- Juvenile detention -- England -- London -- History -- 19th century -- Biography
- Prisoners -- England -- Biography
- Juvenile delinquents -- England -- London -- History -- 19th century -- Biography
- Juvenile delinquents -- Rehabilitation -- England -- London -- History -- 19th century -- Biography
- 364.1523083092 23
- HV9067.H6 S86 2016b
Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
300 - 399 | Hanover Public Library Shelves | 364.1523 SUMM (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | 31906001058453 |
First published in Great Britain by Bloomsbury Publishing.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-360) and index.
"In East London in the summer of 1895, Robert Coombes (age thirteen) and his brother Nattie (age twelve) were arrested for matricide and sent for trial at the Old Bailey. Robert confessed to having stabbed his mother, but his lawyers argued that he was insane - his young mind twisted by the content of penny dreadfuls, the pulp fiction of the time, which the youngster obsessively read. The judge sentenced him to detention in Broadmoor, the most infamous criminal lunatic asylum in the land. Shockingly, Broadmoor turned out to be the beginning of a new life for Robert. At a time of great tumult and uncertainty, Robert Coombes's case crystallized contemporary anxieties about the education of the working classes, the dangers of pulp fiction, and evolving theories of criminality, childhood, and insanity. With riveting detail and rich atmosphere, Summerscale re-creates this terrible crime and its aftermath, uncovering an extraordinary story of man's capacity to overcome the past."--Provided by publisher.
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