25 True Crimes That Shocked the 18th Century

Shocking True Crime Stories of Murders, Serial Killers, and Unsolved Mysteries That Will Keep You Awake

Step back into the shadowed cities, remote villages, and colonial frontiers of the eighteenth century, a time when reason and enlightenment existed alongside superstition, brutality, and relentless crime. In 25 True Crimes That Shocked the 18th Century, history is brought vividly to life through twenty-five deeply researched true crime stories reconstructed from court records, newspapers, and contemporary accounts.

From the Cape Colony in southern Africa to the cities of Europe and the colonies of the Caribbean, North America, and South America, these stories trace a world where violence was not an exception but a constant presence. In such an age, only the most extreme acts were considered shocking. This book examines those crimes in full detail.

Across these chapters, readers encounter acts of shocking violence, dismemberment, and prolonged cruelty. Serial killers shielded by noble rank, wealth, or lawless frontiers slaughtered entire families. Women murdered relatives for reasons that often defied explanation. Each case plunges into the crime itself, the planning, the act, and the aftermath, including public executions, interrogations, and the social response that followed. These true crime stories are not only about death, but about the human fears, ambitions, and obsessions that drove people to commit them.

The book includes the chilling conspiracy of Maria Mouton in the Cape Colony, the systematic abductions orchestrated by Pierre Benjamin Étienne Deschauffours in Paris, the mass murder of more than one hundred serfs by Russian noblewoman Darya Saltykova, and the violent rampage of the Harpe Brothers across the early United States. These are stories of obsession, authority, and moral collapse in a century shaped by fear and rumor.

Unsolved murder mysteries, including the infamous Manhattan well murder, add further depth to this collection. Several of the crimes examined here are rarely included in modern true crime works, making this volume a unique contribution to historical crime literature.

25 True Crimes That Shocked the 18th Century: Shocking True Crime Stories of Murders, Serial Killers, and Unsolved Mysteries That Will Keep You Awake is the first book in the True Crime Stories in History series. Written for readers who value serious research and immersive storytelling, it offers a compelling journey into a violent and complex past.

Discover the eighteenth century as it truly was. Begin reading and confront the crimes history never forgot.