Sweeney Todd: The Real Story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
by Peter Haining
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Book Summary Information
Author: Peter HainingEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-12-15
ISBN: 1861059892
Number of pages: 191
Publisher: Anova Books
Book Reviews of Sweeney Todd: The Real Story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Book Review: Sweeney Todd and Margery Lovett- a Nightmare Pair
Summary: 3 Stars
Sweeney Todd's crimes struck horror into the hearts of eighteenth century Londoners, and continue to chill and fascinate two hundred years later. According to the legend, Todd was a barber with a grimy shop on Fleet Street. When solitary victims settled into his chair for a shave, the `Demon Barber' would pull a lever that opened the floor beneath the chair and pitched them into the dark cellar below. If the fall did not kill them, he would cut their throats, and then help himself to their valuables. Todd disposed of the bodies with help from accomplice Margery Lovett, who baked their flesh into meat pies that she sold in her Bell Yard shop. The nightmare pair claimed over 160 victims before authorities stepped in and brought their spree to a halt.
The unbelievable victim count, the fantastic revolving chair, and the two centuries that have passed since he cut his last victim's throat have led crime historians to question whether or not Sweeney Todd really existed. Even the flesh-into-pie method of concealing his crimes has a Grimms aura of unreality about it. Peter Haining attempted to set the record straight in this book, which was originally published in 1993, and re-released in 2007 in the wake of the popular film starring Johnny Depp. He doesn't fully succeed.
`Sweeney Todd: the Real Story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' is a well-written account of both the Demon Barber's deeds and the London that he lived in. But the problem is that Haining does not list his sources. In 1993 footnotes were not the norm outside of academic texts, but authors usually compensated by identifying source material in the book itself i.e. "According to the People's Periodical of November 1, 1846..." We're given a lot of intriguing information that cannot be verified. Haining describes Todd's trial and execution in vivid detail, yet neither event appears in the official records. Discriminating readers are left with a sense of hollow enjoyment. We want to trust such an entertaining book, but we can't.
This could have been a five star book, but the sense of uncertainty it leaves me with forces me to accord only three.
Summary of Sweeney Todd: The Real Story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sweeney Todd, the notorious Demon Barber, has been called the greatest mass murderer in English history. With the aid of an ingenious revolving chair and a cut-throat razor, he is said to have robbed and butchered more than 160 victims in his barber shop in Fleet Street, before taking the remains to nearby Bell Yard where his accomplice, Margery Lovett, cooked their flesh for her meat pies. Despite being as infamous in London's history as Jack the Ripper, Todd's story has been almost completely ignored by historians. In this definitive biography, Peter Haining delves into the grim underworld of London 150 years ago to expose the man behind the myth. Separating fact from fiction, he reveals a gruesome and bizarre story with a unique criminal heart.
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