Criminal Conversations: An Anthology of the Work of Tony Parker

Criminal Conversationsis an anthology of the work of Tony Parker, who has been the most outstanding interviewer of criminals since the Second World War. Spanning the 1960s to the 1990s, his work offers intimate and enlightening conversations with all kinds of offenders, including sex offenders, frauds and false pretence merchants, and professional criminals. This collection of Parker's work, selected by the author shortly before his death in 1996, provides the essence of his distinctive contribution to criminology. The book is divided into six major parts dealing with a range of criminals - from petty offenders to those sentenced to death or life imprisonment for murder. The concluding section presents some of Tony Parker's prescriptions for interviewing, as well as reflections by Lyn Smith on his methodology.

Keith Soothill is Professor of Social Research in the Department of Applied Social Science at Lancaster University.