"On October 8th 1787, a man is robbed and murdered on his way home from Abingdon's Michaelmas Fair. The story of the subsequent inquiry is revealed in some two dozen documents, retained by chance by the local magistrate responsible. As events unfold, the reader is treated to rare insight into a wide-ranging, well organised criminal underworld, and the distinct likelihood of a deliberate miscarriage of justice. In addition, many notable aspects of late eighteenth-century life are revealed: the colour and excitement of a traditional country fair, the perilous lives of river boatmen, the brutal notoriety of prize-fights,the severity of service in the county militia, the lawlessness of London's suburbs, the all-pervading influence of alcohol and brewing, the gruesome allure of public executions, and the peculiar regime of the 'wooden world' of the Georgian Navy. These and many other extraordinary, emotive, and shocking aspects of eighteenth-century life are uncovered in a book which will appeal to anyone interested in murder mysteries, the law, or the local history of Oxfordshire and Berkshire in general."--Provided by the publisher.