The Illustrated Police News is often dismissed as a crude publication which aimed to thrill the undiscerning reader with gruesome pictures. Cruel Deeds & Calamities sets out to correct that belief by demonstrating the diversity of its subject matter examining its social & political agenda & revealing the power & compassion in its images. The Illustrated Police News was a promoter of social change & a campaigner against the evils of cruelty poverty drink & crime. It anticipated by many years the features of todays journalism in the rapidity with which it provided pictures of current news events its appeal to the emotions & the involvement of its readers in the reporting process. This is the first book exclusively about the Illustrated Police News to reproduce the pictures as high quality images provide a balanced account of its content & cover the full period of its publication. There is substantial new research into how the paper was produced the men who made it a success & the stories behind the pictures.