Category: Alexander Smith

Mack the Knife: The “True” Story Behind the Song

By Stephen Basdeo on 28 Oct 2017 • ( 2 Comments )

The popular song “Mack the Knife” was based upon the story of an eighteenth-century highwayman named Captain Macheath. This post traces the literary life of this fictional character.

Unruly Apprentices

By Stephen Basdeo on 9 Apr 2017 • ( 1 Comment )

In the 18th century, people asssumed that if you shunned work and acted like an idle apprentice, you would become a criminal.

Capt. Alexander Smith’s “A History of the Lives and Robberies of the Most Notorious Highwaymen, Footpads, Shoplifts, and Cheats” (1714)

By Stephen Basdeo on 10 Jul 2016 • ( 17 Comments )

Alexander Smith’s A History of the Lives and Robberies of the Most Notorious Highwaymen, Footpads, Shoplifts, and Cheats (1714), with its combination of excessive moralism and sensational reporting, set the tone for all successive ‘true’ crime writing.

Here Begynneth A Lytell Geste of Robin Hood…

Chronicling the Lives of Highwaymen, Robbers & Rebels

Category: Alexander Smith

Mack the Knife: The “True” Story Behind the Song

Unruly Apprentices

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