ABSTRACT
Let us begin with a short anecdote. The three of us were meeting one day in mid-March 2010 to reflect on the progress of this book. Passing the time looking at the magazines and newspapers at the newsagents on the main concourse of Glasgow Central Station, we were struck by the number of books devoted to gangs, gangsters and ‘hard men’, and to serious crime in Glasgow and across Scotland more generally. An entire display unit was devoted to this genre, some of the books focusing more on (in)famous Glasgow criminals or other notable episodes in the city’s criminal past, others considering different gangs, gang activity and more contemporary criminal escapades and episodes.
