Synopsis
Our Story is an autobiography by the Kray Twins, assisted by their ghostwriter, first published in 1988. The twins were notorious East End underworld gang leaders during the "swinging" sixties. This book tells their story from their humble beginnings in Bethnal Green to their life imprisonment in 1969, largely in their own words.
The hardback and the Pan paperback versions contain 16 pages of black and white photographs of the twins and their friends, associates and enemies/victims.
The book's Foreword and its "A Final Word" are authored by Fred Dinenage. Thirteen Chapters are ghostwritten with the twins, jointly and individually. Reg and Ron Kray are credited as the authors of: 1. Memories of an East End Childood; 2. Crime and Punishment; and 8. The Women We Loved. Reg nominally authors: 3. The Swinging Sixties; 6. The Last Supper - the Killing of Jack McVitie; 9. Life in Parkhurst; 11. Life in Gartree; and 13. Just a Thought. Ron nominally authors: 4. The Killing of George Cornell; 5. The Truth about the Mad Axman (i.e. Frank Mitchell); 7. The Trial and the Traitors; 10. Life in Broadmoor ... 'Without my drugs I go mad'; and 12. Poetry and Painting.
According to a later edition, Ron Kray died in Broadmoor Hospital in 1995, while Reg was released on compassionate grounds in 2000, only to die of cancer in that October. Reg Kray approached their ghostwriter Dinenage to help them tell their story, because Reggie had admired the journalist's Television South's sports and documentary programmes.
Ronald "Ronnie" Kray and Reginald "Reggie" Kray were English gangsters or organised crime figures and identical twin brothers from Haggerston who were prominent from the late 1950s until their arrest in 1968. Their gang, known as the Firm, was based in Bethnal Green, where the Kray twins lived. They were involved in murder, armed robbery, arson, protection rackets, gambling and assaults. At their peak in the 1960s, they gained a certain measure of celebrity status by mixing with prominent members of London society, being photographed by David Bailey and interviewed on television.
June Gibbons and Jennifer Gibbons were twin sisters who grew up in Wales. They became known as "The Silent Twins", since they only communicated with each other. They wrote works of fiction. Both women were admitted to Broadmoor Hospital, where they were held for 11 years.
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England.
Frederick Edgar Dinenage is a British author, broadcaster and television presenter. His television career has spanned nearly 60 years, including the long-running children's programme How and ITV's regional programming in the south of England. Dinenage retired from presenting regional news on ITV Meridian on 16 December 2021, after 38 years as a news anchor.
Francis Davidson Fraser, better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.
Jack McVitie, best known as Jack the Hat, was an English criminal from London during the 1950s and 1960s. He is posthumously famous for triggering the imprisonment and downfall of the Kray twins. He had acted as an enforcer and hitman with links to The Firm, and was murdered by Reggie Kray in 1967.
Royston Henry Shaw, also known as Roy "Pretty Boy" Shaw, Roy "Mean Machine" Shaw and Roy West, was a property investor, author and businessman from the East End of London who was formerly a criminal and Category A prisoner. During the 1970s–1980s, Shaw was active in the criminal underworld of London and was associated with the Kray twins. Shaw is best remembered today for his career as a fighter on the unlicensed boxing scene, becoming an arch-rival of Lenny McLean.
George Cornell was an English criminal and member of The Richardsons, who were scrap metal dealers and criminals from South London.
Watchman is a 1988 novel written by Ian Rankin, and is one of the author's earliest works. Originally published in 1988, it was reissued with a new introduction by Rankin in 2004.
For the Wales international footballer see Andrew Crofts (footballer)
Born Fighter is an autobiographical book written by Reginald Kray. In 1969 he and his twin brother Ronnie Kray received life sentences for the murders of George Cornell and Jack McVitie. It was first published in London in 1990 in hardback by Century and paperback in 1991 by subsidiary Arrow Books.
My Story is an autobiographical book written by Ronnie Kray. He, along with his twin brother Reggie, were said to be some of the most feared gangsters in British history.
The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories is the long-running "main" series of the Nancy Drew franchise, which was published under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. There are 175 novels — plus 34 revised stories — that were published between 1930 and 2003 under the banner; Grosset & Dunlap published the first 56, and 34 revised stories, while Simon & Schuster published the series beginning with volume 57.
Freddie Foreman is an English publican, gangster, former associate of the Kray twins and convicted criminal.
Stephen Richards is an author writing in the self-help genre. The first book he wrote in 1998 was in the true crime genre for Mirage Publishing. He has co-written a number of books with others, but now concentrates on writing in the mind, body, spirit subjects of Cosmic Ordering and mind power.
Frank Samuel Mitchell, also known as "The Mad Axeman", was an English criminal and friend of the Kray twins who was later murdered at their behest.
Legend is a 2015 biographical drama film written and directed by Brian Helgeland, adapted from John Pearson's book The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins. The film follows the Kray twins' career and relationship together through their life imprisonment in 1969.
Leonard Ernest "Nipper" Read, QPM was a British police officer and boxing administrator.
Charles James Kray was an English professional boxer and convicted criminal. He was the elder brother of Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins is a 1972 biography of the Kray twins by John Pearson. It details the life of the twins from their births, childhood, criminal careers, and eventual arrest. It was nominated for the 1974 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime. It was followed by The Cult of Violence: The Untold Story of the Krays in 2001 and Notorious: The Immortal Legend of the Kray Twins in 2010.
