Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues

Sam Willis shows that, far from being outsiders, outlaws were very much a product of their time, shaped by national events. He begins with the arrival of a new breed of gentleman criminal out of the ashes of the English Civil War - the highwayman.

Sam takes to the high seas in search of the swashbuckling pirates of the golden age of piracy during the early 18th century. Sam also charts the devastating impact these pirates had during an era of colonial expansion.

Sam looks at urban crime, fraud and corruption in the 18th century, uncovering a fascinating rogues gallery of charmers, fraudsters and villains. Charmers like thief and serial escaper Jack Sheppard, so notorious that almost a quarter of a million people turned up to witness his hanging.