Glasgow's Hard Men

Glasgow is an energetic and powerful city of many moods and faces. For more than 100 years, the city has been known, worldwide, for gangsterism, violence and villainy. But the criminals - many of them the product of slum areas with some of the worst poverty and deprivation in Europe - never had it easy as there were always a full cast of Glaswegian citizens ready to fight for good against the powers of darkness. Glasgow's long-running fight against crime is an enthralling story, peopled with a range of fascinating characters: a series of high-profile Chief Constables; cops on the beat, as hard as the men they faced; gang-busting judges and sheriffs; concerned men and women, trying to live a normal life. The gangs and the godfathers, the shadow of Barlinnie (the infamous Bar-L), Peter Manuel, Bible John, the Thompsons...these are the big stories of crime fighting in Glasgow, Scotland's second city, recorded day after day in the pages of The Herald, The Evening Times and The Sunday Herald. And after years of struggle, the battle was won with a remarkable turn around in the city's reputation, a change of face that helped win Glasgow the accolade, 'City of Culture'.Glasgow's Hard Men contains a host of gripping stories culled from the comprehensive archives of The Herald, The Evening Times and The Sunday Herald, fully illustrated with images from one of Europe's largest contemporary news picture collections.