Robert Hallmann – författare

The stories in this haunting collection are as ancient and recent, powerful and fantastical, real and imaginary as the ghosts of myth and legend they feature. Here you will find chilling tales of long-dead Vikings, stirred by the darkness of an eclipse; a wild forest with a wicked secret in its roots; the feared cross on Gallows Hill; a restless Grey Lady forever searching for her revenge; and the killing of a dead man. Read about phantom highwaymen; dastardly smugglers; mysterious pasts; foul murders and one-eyed strangers, all twisted into Essex’s history and brought to life by noted storyteller Robert Hallmann. Richly illustrated with original drawings, these spine-tingling stories interweave fact and fiction to create perfect tales for reading under the covers on stormy nights.

Witches, martyrs, bodysnatchers, Zulus and rioting peasants! The Black Death in Chelmsford! The horrible true stories of the Moat Farm Murder and the death of Jael Denny! The terrible tragedy of the Great Flood of 1880! The incredible histories of Hylands House and Beaulieu! Nazi bombers over Chelmsford! Chelmsford has one of the darkest histories on record. From the skeletons lying underneath the city – which include a woolly mammoth – to the executions of thieves, witches, martyrs and murderers at Chelmsford’s gaol, this book will change the way you see the town forever. Robert the Bruce was most likely born here; Bloody Mary Tudor lived here; infamous murderers Samuel Dougal and Thomas Drory died here. Including more than sixty rare illustrations, plus an eight-page colour section, read it if you dare!

Eleven years after the Second World War, the curiosity of adventurous youth brought a boy with only a few words of English across the water. Coming from a small village in rural Westphalia, he could never quite shake off the awe of the big city. A camera was never far away, and he began to document his experience of life in the capital.London became a backdrop to scenes that never lost their mystery as Hallmann began to explore the history, the pageants, the art, the river, the markets, the fashions and the people … He learnt that by travelling on bus or Underground you could meet the world – sandaled monks and stiletto-heeled damsels, heavies in chains and bovver boots and sneaks on platforms, preachers that would save your soul and some that would prefer your money.Collected here are the best photographs from three decades of street photography capturing the spirit of London and Londoners. Priceless moments are recorded. From the swinging sixties to the flares and platforms of the seventies to punks in the eighties, this is the buzzing atmosphere of late twentieth‑century London.