I would thoroughly recommend this book to everyone interested in English history and it’s heroes. Many tales and adventures of this man are explored in great detail and depth .

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have had a fascination with John Palmer aka Dick Turpin for a while, so I did find this book interesting. A recommended read.

Notorious highwayman Dick Turpin lived in the 1700s. He's often portrayed as a hero, but he may not have earned this extraordinary reputation. Dr. Jonathan Oates reveals details about Dick Turpin's childhood origins and life of crime. He also shares information about how Dick is portrayed in books, plays and movies.
I hadn't heard of Dick Turpin before reading this book. He is an interesting character.
But the book is a little dry and loaded with facts that bog down the story. The most interesting part to me is how society chose to see Dick as a hero rather than the gangster criminal he was. And the author offers insights into life in England during the 18th century.

“...How well do we know…historical figures, who are often referred to in the media and popular culture, though about whom experts often differ, and how far does that little knowledge shape our sense of the past and inspire our present and future?”

This question concludes Dr. Jonathan Oates’ book, Dick Turpin: Fact and Fiction. Published March 30th, 2023 by Pen & Sword, this is the latest in a long line of books written about Dick Turpin since his death in 1739. Few figures have captured the British imagination quite like Dick Turpin. Arguably eclipsed only by Jack the Ripper and Henry VIII in terms of British celebrity, he is perhaps more aptly compared to the mostly fictional Robin Hood. The Robin Hood comparison is even more apt considering just how much pop culture has perverted the truth of this historical figure.

Oates does a wonderful job washing away the morass of fiction surrounding Dick Turpin. The first half of the book is dedicated solely to providing the most accurate biography possible for a figure far removed from the present. He breathes life into the other members of the Gregory Gang as well and establishes Turpin as a criminal of his time. Turpin, unlike the fictional depictions of him, did not steal from the rich to give to the poor. Nor was he a young farmer ousted from his home and forced into a life of crime. He was an apprentice butcher, likely in a town near where he grew up in Essex, who turned to crime after already having helped the deer-stealers active in the nearby Epping Forest. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oates is dutiful in his account, neither exaggerating as others have – we don’t know that Turpin truly tortured Mrs. Shelley or if he was actually responsible for King’s death – nor being overly sympathetic to the man. Ultimately, there is much about him that is entirely unknowable. He was not a particularly well-liked man during his lifetime, yet he commanded a good deal of media attention. Why was that? What was it about the criminal that turned him from a ruthless criminal to the beloved Highwayman the media portrays today?

Some of the appeal of Turpin’s appeal traces back to William Harrison Ainsworth’s Rookwood and the attribution of the horse ride from London to York on Black Bess. Oates traces the legend of the ride back to a previous legend, that of Swift Nicks. Oates takes care to chart not only the film and television career of Turpin through the ages, but also the literary one. Stark throughout all of these is a reluctance to truly face the facts. Never is he depicted with a pockmarked face, and always he is the master horseman, on his beloved Bess.

Perhaps Turpin captivates us because the threat of the Highwayman belongs to the distant past. We can enjoy the aesthetic of his tricorn hat and red coat, the dashing man riding his beloved black horse and brandishing his dual pistols and sword on a more forgotten landscape. We can turn his cause into that of robbing the rich for the commoners rather than robbing anyone at all for his own good. Oates provides an excellent and thorough analysis of the intriguing life of Turpin and the media surrounding him.

Dick Turpin: Fact and Fiction is a history based biography of highwayman, robber, & murderer Dick Turpin curated and written by Dr. Jonathan Oates. Due out 30th May 2023 from Pen & Sword on their True Crime imprint, it's 272 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

Long depicted as a dashing, handsome, and romantic figure, the historical Turpin was the diametric opposite: a murderer, thief, housebreaker, and thug who was eventually captured, tried, and executed in 1738-39. Dr. Oates does a good job of rendering Turpin more realistically (and MUCH less flatteringly) by liberal use of extant historical records, judicial transcripts, and well vetted source material.

The text is meticulously annotated and written in accessible and easy to understand language. The chapter notes and bibliography will provide hours of further reading for students of true-crime history. The text is enhanced with an appendix which contains historical and modern photos of the environs and some of the sites where Turpin lived and died.

Five stars. Well written and absorbing. Recommended for readers of true crime history.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I enjoyed this history quite a bit. A good retelling of the fact and myth. I will definitely be ordering this for my library.