From the day I unearthed the excellent archive photographs of villains at the turn of the century, I have been astonished at the amount of unpublished information dealing with all matters of policing, crime and social history that is waiting to hit the presses. 

Trawling the records at Nottingham University, The Local Studies Library, Nottingham Archives, The Public Record Office and The National Newspaper Library, I unearthed detailed accounts as to how harsh life must have been for many of the city's inhabitants, especially in the early years covered by the book. 

When reading accounts and looking at photographs of a particular period you become engrossed, you live the times. I quickly became a time traveller. Thus I was in court with 'Nurse' Waddingham; I lived in the filthy conditions of Narrow Marsh; I witnessed the execution of John Brooks and sought pleasure in the Victorian brothels. I had a fascinating time! 

If you are a time traveller, interested in crime, and, dare I say, the causes of crime, please join me in the stories of the hundred years from the last public execution in Nottingham (1864) to the last hanging in Britain (1964). 

Please travel with me to Nottingham... the Sinister Side.