The Krays: Brotherhood of Evil
For most of the 1950s and 1960s, Ronnie and Reggie Kray were a terrifying legend in the pubs and drinking clubs of London’s East End, ruling their ‘manor’ like feudal warlords. Anything said or done against them reached their ears within hours, and reprisals were swift and bloody. The East End of London has always had a reputation for producing hardened villains. But on 24 October 1933 two boys were born who would grow up to become the undisputed ‘kings’ of the underworld. They were the Kray twins. Reggie and Ronnie, together with their brother Charlie who was seven years older, were brought up in a terraced house in Vallance Road, Bethnal Green. Ironically, the streets were they played had been the hunting ground of Jack the Ripper some 50 years before. The brothers grew up tough. In the hurly-burly of East End street life, in the heart of what was then the thriving rag trade district, they learned to fight and they learned to steal. They quickly earned a reputation as gutsy str...