Villains, Gangsters or "Faces" as they prefer to be called are the men, gangs and families that have been making newspaper headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past 50 years. Some of their names are household names, strangers talk about them as if they are long lost friends but few people would know them if their paths crossed in the street.

Its their names that we all know, the mere mention of them can strike fear into individuals and in some cases communities. Despite their notoriety the faces of many of Britain's most feared criminals remain unknown. That is until now.

For the very first time, Britain's most infamous characters and crooks have agreed to be photographed to appear in a book that will become an important part of our social history. Forget the celebrity gangster set that brag and boast about crimes they dreamt up in front of their computer screens for inclusion in their books.

Forget the football hooligans that promoted themselves from being social nuisances into underworld gang bosses in their films and forget the steroid enhanced doormen who stuff their bloated frames into ill fitting dinner jackets and then brag in their memoirs that they are the Guv'nor.

The people featured in this book are the real deal, they have been there, done it and have the T-shirt, they are the UK's genuine Faces.