Those were the Krays, my friend

Last night I watched the second part of an ITV documentary Secrets of the Krays on the Kray twins.

My immediate reaction was that this all happened so long ago – their hey day was the late 1960s – and most of those on the programme were necessarily quite old now.

The point was made that Ronnie and Reggie Kray were the first celebrity criminals but that may have been their undoing as to attract publicity is to attract attention.

I met a fellow once who was an authority on them and most of what he said did not really tally with the programme.

Nor did the programme set the scene for London crime in the sixties.

Yes, the Krays were feared but did they make money?

Were they astute in business or just scary?

There was not enough ‘meat’ or revelation to make me want to watch further episodes and – if any reader is interested – I would still recommend John Pearson’s absorbing biography Their Profession is Violence on them.

Though not around at the time, Jake Arnott has written some excellent fiction on gangland London too.