Nineteenth century crime and punishment in Durham.

John Van der Kiste was born in Wendover, Buckinghamshire. He has published over thirty books, including royal and historical biography, local history, true crime, music and fiction. He has contributed to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and Guinness Rockopedia, articles and reviews to various national and local journals and websites and booklet notes for CDs. He was a consultant for the BBC TV documentary The King, the Kaiser and the Tsar, (first shown in 2003). He lives in Devon.