Publisher's Synopsis
Bandits & Renegades presents some of the most unusual true crime stories in the annals of crime. Canadians take pride in the knowledge that, in the dark days of slavery in the American South, their country was the land of freedom for people fleeing bondage by way of the Underground Railroad. However, it is a little-known anomaly of history that a Canadian-born woman named Patty Cannon not only hunted down escaping slaves for reward money, but kidnapped both free and enslaved black people who were subsequently sold to distant plantations.Canadian high school students learn of the Fenian invasions of 1866, when pro-Irish nationalists tried to make Canada a pawn in their struggle for Ireland's independence from British rule. Few Canadians know of Clan-an-Gael, who in 1900, sought to resurrect the Fenian cause by blowing up the Welland Canal. Canada's Atlantic coast was a notorious haven for pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries; and in the 19th century outlaws robbed trains and stagecoaches, and rustled cattle in Western Canada.Then in the early 20th century, a desperado named Henry Wagner combined piracy and brigandage to prey on victims along the coast of Vancouver Island. A string of the Depression Era bank robbers of the 1930s had the dubious distinction of being marked by the FBI as Public Enemy Number One: John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Baby Face Nelson. Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, a career criminal who was next on the FBI's most wanted list, was a Canadian.Quebec's Georges Lemay, who pulled one of the biggest bank burglaries in Canadian history, and was a suspect in the mysterious disappearance of his beautiful young wife, was also an elusive fugitive whose run from the law made him a folk hero.These six stories make Bandits & Renegades: Historical True Crime Stories a must read for anyone with an interest in true crime. INCLUDES PHOTOSTrue Stories Inside the BookPatty Cannon: Devil WomanEddie Guerin: The Man From Devil's IslandClan-na-Gael: Attack on the Welland CanalHenry Wagner: Pirate of the Georgia StraitOld Creepy: The Saga of Alvin KarpisGeorges Lemay: Tunnel Man
