A collection of biographical sketches recounts the backgrounds, methods, and fates of notorious highwaymen, robbers, and murderers from different regions. Each portrait combines anecdote and reported detail about upbringing, notable crimes, robberies, trials, and punishments, often emphasizing daring exploits, social settings, and moral consequences. The narratives alternate reconstruction and commentary, sometimes illustrated with engravings, and aim to entertain as much as to document, exposing both the violence of criminal lives and the social forces surrounding them.