The Gamblers

Britain's foremost writer on crime turns to the disappearance of Lord Lucan. The basis of the upcoming ITV drama, Lucan, starring Rory Kinnear and Christopher Eccleston

'a riveting portrait of the notorious Clermont set ... reads like a galloping Mayfair noir thriller'

'Pearson reveals the charisma, char and wit of these dastardly but debonair millionaires and shows how their code of extreme loyalty led to one of the great crimes of the 20th century remaining unsolved.'

Whether one buys this solution or not, the book has a repulsive fascination about it. Written in crisp, ironic style without moralising, it leaves you feeling as if you have been studying a fatal disease - gambling - which drives men to absurd lengths, grotesque behaviour and, usually, bad ends

Riveting book ... Pearson cleverly entices the reader into a whodunnit

John Pearson graduated from Peterhouse Cambridge with a double first in History, then worked on the Economist Intelligence Unit and as a BBC trainee producer before being offered a job by Ian Fleming as his assistant on the 'Atticus' column for the Sunday Times. 
 
Pearson is the author of- among others - the only authorised biography of Ian Fleming, as well as bestselling The Profession of Violence.He lives in West Sussex

Britain's foremost writer on crime turns to the disappearance of Lord Lucan. The basis of the upcoming ITV drama, Lucan, starring Rory Kinnear and Christopher Eccleston 
 
For over thirty years, John Pearson has provided us with literary exposures of some of the most enigmatic people and underground organisations of our modern world. The Gamblers follows the fortunes of five men at the centre of the ultra-fashionable Clermont Set: the Clermont Club's eccentric founder John Aspinall; Dominic Elwes, who was to betray the Set's code of silence; the socialite owner of Annabel's, Mark Birley; the womanising, multi millionaire James Goldsmith; and the infamous Lord 'Lucky' Lucan. 
 
At the heart of the Set lay a belief that risk-takers are the people who make civilisation tick.Cruel, heartless and snobbish, they gambled with their fortunes and kept a stiff upper lip when they lost.This and a loyalty to each other that transcended everything else enabled them to rise above crises such as the long affair between Birley's wife and James Goldsmith, and the facial mutilation of the Birley's son by one of Aspinall's tigers.Pearson revels in the charisma, charm and wit of these dastardly but debonair millionaires, and reveals how their code led to one of the great unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.

One Of The Family

The true story of the first and only Englishman to be accepted by leading crime families in America, and who became a key player of the New York mafia. A thrilling true crime book from crime king and official biographer of James Bond author, Ian Fleming. The true story of how mafia families, like the Corleones in The Godfather, operate on the streets of New York.

Straight out of The Godfather ... this insight into the hidden world of the mafia is well worth reading

John Pearson worked for The Economist, the BBC and The Sunday Times before becoming Ian Fleming's assistant. An author who specialises in true crime and biographies, he has written the only authorised biography of Ian Fleming, a fictional biography of James Bond and The Profession of Violence, a crime biography of legendary East End gangsters, the Kray twins.

_____________________________ 
At Ronnie Kray's funeral, London crime expert John Pearson saw a man he didn't recognise - but who all the notorious criminals present deferred to. 
 
This is the remarkable true story of that man: 'the Englishman'. 
 
Investigations revealed that the Englishman was never mentioned in any of the previous books on organised crime, not because he wasn't involved, but because everyone was too scared to speak his name. Moreover, he was as legendary a figure on the streets of New York as on the streets of London. 
 
Pearson persuaded the mysterious criminal leader to talk to him - and the result was a story even more extraordinary than that of the Kray twins. Here Pearson reveals the true story of the Englishman who became the adopted son of Joey Pagano, the head of one of the major New York crime families. Here the Englishman tells the story that no-one else dared to tell. 
_____________________________ 
John Pearson's The Profession of Violence created the myth of the Kray twins, and remains a classic of true crime and the principal work on East London criminals.

John Pearson

Provides all the answers ... a brilliant book that explodes a myth

The Immortal Legend of the Kray Twins

Ever since the Kray twins invited John Pearson to write their 'official' biography more than forty years ago, he has been obsessed with them. After they were jailed in 1969 for thirty years for murder, Pearson's biography The Profession of Violence enjoyed a cult following among the young and was said to be the most popular book in H.M.'s prisons, after the Bible. 
 
Ron died in 1995. Reg followed him five years later, and both of their funerals drew crowds on a scale unknown for film stars, let alone for two departed murderers. Since then, far from fading with their death, public fascination with the twins has never flagged. Their clothes and memorabilia are sold at auction like religious relics. Ron's childlike prison paintings fetch more money than those of many well-known artists. And people still refer to them like popular celebrities. Why? 
 
This is the question Pearson asked himself, and over the past three years he has been re-examining their history, unearthing much previously unknown material, and has come to some fascinating conclusions. Notorious reveals new facts about the Krays' tortured relationship as identical twins; a relationship which helped predestine them to a life of crime; a relationship that made them utterly unlike any other major criminals. Pearson has discovered two new and unsuspected murders, along with fresh light on the killings of George Cornell and Jack 'the Hat' McVitie. There are facts about the twins' obsession with publicity, and how far this made them 'actor criminals' murdering for notoriety. Most riveting of all are the chapters which reveal how Ron Kray caused a major sexual scandal in which a prime minister, together with other leading politicians, condoned the most outrageous establishment cover-up in British politics since the war. 
 
Notorious contains many more surprises, but the one thing that emerges is that the Kray twins were not only stranger but also far more important than anyone ever suspected. Fascination with them will forever remain; they will never lose their role as the immortal murderers.

John Pearson

Praise for Notorious

Provides all the answers ... a brilliant book that explodes a myth

Books by John Pearson

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