Limit search to available items
Book Cover
Book
Author Mortimer, John, 1923-2009.

Title The Oxford book of villains / edited by John Mortimer
Published Oxford [England] ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1992

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'PONDS  808.893552 M8884/O  AVAILABLE
Description xii, 431 pages ; 25 cm
Contents The spirit of evil -- Master crooks -- Minor crooks -- Murderers -- Seducers and cads -- Con men -- Hypocrites -- Traitors and spies -- Tyrants
Summary Villains have been celebrated in song and drama, poem and fiction since the Bible first recorded the exploits of Adam's descendants. John Mortimer is ideally placed, as an author and QC, to compile an anthology of the most infamous representatives, real and imagined, of the criminal world. Whether or not the Devil has all the best tunes, Milton's Satan has some very good lines, good enough, according to Marlowe and Goethe, to persuade a man to sell his soul. Not all
and highwayman to pirate and con man. Here Jonathan Wild rubs shoulders with Mac the Knife, Captain Kidd with Captain Hook. Casanova, Don Juan, and Richardson's Lovelace have all mastered the pitiless art of seduction, while other villains betray their countries. Tyranny shows itself a brutal regime in the hands of Caligula and Nero, and more subtly oppressive within the family and schoolroom. Attractive scoundrels and incompetent rogues, calculating murderers and
unscrupulous swindlers pack these pages with a richness and variety that will by turns delight, surprise, and chill the reader. John Mortimer shapes this villainous crew into a unique and absorbing collection
villains are as anguished as Faust, however; Sherlock Holmes's arch-enemy Moriarty suffers no qualms of conscience in his determination to destroy the sleuth, and Iago, to name but one of Shakespeare's villains, shows no remorse against Othello. The reputation of some real-life villains is so great that they too have acquired legendary status: Dr. Crippen, Lizzie Borden, and Al Capone are among the murderers remembered here. Criminality takes many forms, from pickpocket
Analysis Literature
Literature
Notes Includes indexes
Bibliography Bibliography: pages 417-423
Notes Also issued online
Subject Characters and characteristics in literature.
Villains in literature.
Author Mortimer, John, 1923-2009.
LC no. 91041750
ISBN 0192141953
Other Titles Book of villains
Villains
Book of villains