DICK TURPIN: THE MYTH OF THE ENGLISH HIGHWAYMAN
JAMES SHARPE • PROFILE
- Author
- JAMES SHARPE
- Publisher
- PROFILE
- ISBN
- 9781861972989
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Where it came from
Published in 2004 by Profile Books, this scholarly work was written by James Sharpe, a distinguished historian specializing in crime and society in early modern England. The book serves as a meticulous deconstruction of the legend surrounding Richard 'Dick' Turpin, aiming to separate the historical reality of a rather unremarkable and brutal criminal from the romanticized folk hero that emerged in the popular imagination long after his execution in 1739.
Sharpe explores the cultural mechanisms—most notably Harrison Ainsworth’s 1834 novel Rookwood—that transformed a minor horse thief into a dashing, noble highwayman. The design and narrative structure of the text focus on historiography, analyzing how literature, ballads, and theatre repackaged Turpin to satisfy a public craving for adventure. Upon its release, the book was well-received by academic critics for its ability to anchor the mythical figure within the social and political anxieties of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
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