The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins by John Pearson is a factual recounting of the lives of the Kray brothers, twins Reggie and Ronnie. This famous duo were not criminal master-minds with a great intelligence but psychopathic thugs using violence and fear to control others. They successfully used brutality and terror to swindle and exhort in order to build an empire of organized crime in London during the 1950s and 60s.

The Brothers had the special bond of being identical twins, although most people found Reggie the more charming of the two, Ronnie appeared to be the more dominant twin. Ronnie had been certified insane during one of his stays in prison, but Reggie still chose to support and follow him in most things. They were doomed to disaster as their antics got more and more violent and witnesses grew more determined to come forward. When the intelligent Inspector Nipper Read was put on their case, these two were finally brought to justice.

The author used a flat, matter-of-fact tone to tell this story, I suspect he was trying not to glorify the subject matter, but, for me, this deadpan delivery took away from the intricate and fascinating story, giving it the flavor of a newspaper report. I read a lot of British crime stories and the Kray Brothers have come into my reading many times either directly or by reference, so I was pleased to have been able to read such a factual account of their lives. ( )

Rereading this book many years later I can't help but feel that Reggie Kray might have been quite a successful business man without the need to resort to crime in order to achieve what he felt was important in life, wealth and power. However he was the second half of a demented twin, and Ronnie's life was always going to end in sadness and violence. Reggie choose to support his brother and together they built an empire of crime which was doomed to disaster as the antics of the Krays became more violent and bizarre. Added to this mix we have the highly intelligent Inspector "Nipper" Read determined to see the bad guys brought to justice and peace restored to the streets of London. ( )