In the city of Inspector Morse, when it comes to crime, truth may be stranger than fiction. This walk through the dark corridors of Oxford's past is populated with footpads and prostitutes, murderers and conmen, thieves and philanderers. Giles Brindley has searched the archives of the university, the Public Record Office, the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies and others to collect more than 100 accounts that paint a picture of Oxford's seedier side. Using contemporary court records and newspaper accounts, he brings together crime stories dating from 1750 to about 1920, including: infamous murders, hangings and dying confessions, grand and daring thefts, escapes from the county gaol, suicide in the name of love, and great drinking deaths.