The Kray’s Book Of Slang.

40 unseen photos of the Kray Twins and family.

Unseen poetry.

Limited print run of 300.

Condition is New. Dispatched with Royal Mail 1st Class.

Book signed by 2 authors

In 1989 Reggie Kray released ‘Book Of Slang’ to an unsuspecting public. The book was A5 in size and 64 pages long. Priced at £4.99 it was released by publishers Sidgwick and Jackson Ltd from London. The book contained a foreword from his close friend Patsy Manning and some previously unpublished photographs of Reggie Kray and his twin brother Ronnie who had ruled the East End criminal fraternity for the best part of the 1960’s before their arrest in 1968.

The book was a simple format and introduced the reader to ‘Cockney’ slang, American slang and ‘Criminal’ slang, and there was also a little taste of Reggie and Patsy’s poetry thrown in for good measure at the end. Reggie opened the book with an explanation of why he had decided to put pen to paper after a failed suicide attempt in Long Lartin Prison. He had experienced an extreme case of paranoia and claimed he had been ‘spiked’ by a fellow inmate who placed a drug in a curry he had eaten. Reggie cut his wrists with the glass from his shattered spectacles but was found by prison officers who stemmed the blood flow and saved his life. He was transferred to Parkhurst Prison Hospital where he had time to reflect on his mental state and do a lot of self analysis. He goes onto explain that as he writes the book he is in a better mental state and that he holds no grudges against the Police that arrested him or the judge that sentenced him. All he really craved at that time was a light at the end of the tunnel. He was hoping to be de-categorised from Cat A and take his first step on the road to eventual parole and freedom. Sadly this hope was only realised when he had days left to live.

I decided to release this book for a few reasons. Firstly it is 30 years since Reg released his own book of Slang. In that time both Reg and Patsy have passed away and I thought it would be a nice way to pay tribute to them and their achievement. In that 30 year period there has been an increase in slang words that have been adopted in the UK and my 12 year old daughter Rebecca has selected the ones you can read within these pages. As a ‘kray’ collector I have bought many interesting items including family photographs. Inside this book you will find over 40 unseen photographs of Ronnie, Reggie and Charlie Kray and some of their close friends and family. Releasing this book has given me the chance to share those photographs with you.

As in the first book there is some poetry to close with. The poems are by Reggie and Ronnie Kray and me. The poems were previously published in a limited edition book that I released a few years ago so many of you will not have had the pleasure of reading them.

Finally I wanted my daughter to learn a valuable lesson in helping me with this book. That to earn money you have to work for it. She has embraced that opportunity and I have paid her for her time. She is also on a cut of the profits! The Twins would be proud of her negotiating skills!

I hope you get as much pleasure out of reading this book and looking at the new photographs as we did making it.