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THE SCOTLAND YARD FILES
by Alan Moss and Keith Skinner
The National Archives, August 2006
224 pages
19.99 GBP
ISBN: 1903365880


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

As the title implies, THE SCOTLAND YARD FILES: MILESTONES IN CRIME DETECTION, relates the history of the founding of Scotland Yard and the advances that have improved police work. This book also contains a foreward by Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of Police of New Scotland Yard.

This book looks at 12 cases that have been influenced by the work of Scotland Yard. Some of the details of these crimes have not been released previously but to those unfamiliar with English crime, it is not evident what has been previously released and what has not.

Some of the famous crimes include murderers such as Jack the Ripper and Dr Crippen as well as lesser-known murderers and other criminals. In addition to these 12 crimes, this book discusses the advances that have improved detective work in general. These advances include bloodstains, DNA, identity parades, fingerprints and press appeals. The authors discuss the new processes and then use case studies in which these advances helped the police close a case.

THE SCOTLAND YARD FILES: MILESTONES IN CRIME DETECTION is an interesting book, but it does have some flaws. The biggest fault I found with this book is that it is not told chronologically. This book starts off with the founding of Scotland Yard but is then shortly followed by a chapter on the importance of bloodstains and the advances of DNA for the identification of criminals. After discussing these advances of the modern era, the book jumps back in time to crimes from the 1800s. When I read the history of someone or some place or some institution, I like my details to be provided in a concise and chronological order. When details are not presented in proper progression, the thesis of the book is less powerful.

Ultimately, this is a very cursory look at Scotland Yard and the highlights of their criminal investigations. While the point of this book is to provide the milestones of Scotland Yard, this book could use more detail about the cases discussed. For a reader unfamiliar with police detection and the history of crime fighting, this book will be beneficial and informative. To those who already have a comfortable grasp of the history of crime detection, this book is somewhat disappointing due to its lack of depth.

Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, February 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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