The daring hold-ups and amazing exploits of many highwaymen made them heroes in their lifetime and legends in ours. Some were just as we imagine them - fearless cavaliers, carefree, chivalrous, romantic knights in three-cornered hats, true Gentlemen of the Road. Yet many more, such as half-mythical Dick Turpin, were unmitigated rogues who simply desired easy money. In "Discovering Highwaymen," Russell Ash writes about both sorts of highwaymen, their different backgrounds and methods, the measures taken against them, and the punishments they suffered when they were caught. He describes some of their favorite localities and the inns and taverns they supposedly frequented. The book concludes with the biographies of the twelve most famous of them, from Jerry Abershaw to Dick Turpin, recounting their legendary adventures, the known facts and their often untimely ends.