Inside the Underworld

Eric Mason, a close friend and long-time member of the Kray twins' inner circle, is an underworld legend and a hardened 'old face' in his own right and has spent, in total, over thirty years behind bars. At 24, he awoke to find himself strapped into a body belt in a strong box where he was forced to suffer two days without any food and two whole weeks without the use of his hands or access to a toilet. He was flogged four times and was also the last man to endure the excessive pain of the cat o' nine tails. In this autobiography, he vividly describes the agony of these tortures and the other atrocities he suffered at the hands of the penal system that existed in the forties, fifties and sixties. Eric first got to know the Kray twins during one of these horrific stints in Wandsworth prison, and upon his release he quickly became one of their closest associates. He moved on to form associations with Frank (The Mad Axeman) Mitchell, Jack 'The Hat' McVitie, John McVicar and the Great Train Robbery gang. In this honest and revealing book, Eric takes the reader into the criminal underworld, introduces us to many of the famous gangster characters and paints an intimate and intriguing picture of what a gangster's life was really like. Using his insight into the Kray twins' lives, he dispels several of the rumours surrounding their actions and insists that they were not vindictive individuals but a likeable pair who were considered heroes by nearly everyone who knew them. Fresh from fighting a campaign to clear his name after a recent drug-related conviction, this is his gripping true story.