Daring hold-ups and amazing exploits made some highwaymen heroes in their lifetime and legends in ours. Indeed, some were just as we imagine them: fearless cavaliers, carefree and romantic knights in three-cornered hats, and true gentlemen of the road. Yet many more, such as the semi-mythical Dick Turpin, were unmitigated rogues who simply sought easy money. In this book Russell Ash writes about both sorts of highwaymen, their different backgrounds and methods, the measures taken against them, and the punishments they suffered, as well as some of the locales, inns and taverns they are supposed to have frequented. Discovering Highwaymen concludes with the biographies of the twelve most famous examples, from Jerry Abershaw to Dick Turpin, recounting their legendary adventures and often grisly ends.