From the serial murders of Jack the Ripper to the Great Train Robbery, the real-life crimes documented by Scotland Yard rival the thorniest cases of such resourceful fictional detectives as Sherlock Holmes, Jane Marple, and Hercule Poirot. Gathering together a dazzling array of true crime stories, this fascinating history of the world's most famous police department presents detailed portraits of the colorful characters who have left their mark on British law enforcement: magistrate Henry Fielding and his Bow Street Runners; Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne, the architects of England's new police force; and a rogues' gallery of notorious criminals--from Constance Kent, the 16-year-old child killer whose ingenious coverup almost fooled Victorian detectives, to a raft of modern-day terrorists including foreign extremists, IRA gunmen, and drug overlords. Elegantly written and filled with intriguing information, this book is a fitting tribute to those staunch upholders of British justice, the "sharp-eyed blokes'' of Scotland Yard. --Publisher description.