The Autobiography Foreword by Criminologist Dr Mark Pettigrew
SYNOPSIS:
In 2020, the three-part show featuring David Tennant, ‘Des’, was ITV’s biggest drama launch in 14 years with 10 million viewers. In February 2021, Dennis Nilsen’s abridged autobiography will be published for the first time.
Seven years after his conviction in November 1983, Dennis Nilsen wrote more than 3.5 million words during his decades in prison. The Home Office banned the release of History of a Drowning Boy while Dennis was alive. He died in May 2018, leaving his memoirs to his next of kin.
Dennis Nilsen is one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers, jailed for life after being convicted of six counts of murder and two of attempted murder. Nilsen’s (abridged but unedited 125,000 words) autobiography presents his life story in his own words alongside a foreword from criminologist Dr Mark Pettigrew and an introduction from his friend and next of kin, Mark Austin.
History of a Drowning Boy includes:
• Expansion and detail on Dennis Nilsen’s early life, childhood abuse, and time in the military.
• Discovering (and trying to hide) his sexuality. • Motives behind-and memories of-the murders.
• His relationship with alcohol. • Insight into his 35 years inside the maximum-security prison system.
• The unravelling of a series of horrific events experienced by Nilsen during his childhood and through his life in the military and into adulthood.
• The details leading up to, and surrounding, his death.
Dr Mark Pettigrew writes, ‘As the reader will learn from these memoirs, a confluence of factors met to form Dennis Nilsen: the social and legal disapproval of his homosexuality during his early life; the long shadow cast by his grandfather and the sexual abuse he reports to have suffered as a child; the strained relationship he had with his mother; social isolation; the lack of supportive and long-lasting relationships; and alcohol abuse, they all played their part. Yet, these memoirs do not offer a neat answer as to why a boy from a fishing town in North East Scotland, a man who served in the police and in the military, became a serial killer. In all the academic and clinical research on the topic, there is no definitive answer as to why or how a person becomes a serial killer. Indeed, it is highly unlikely that any theory can or will account for all or even the majority of serial killers. Realistically, we can only identify risk factors. What this book offers though is an insight into how those killings are comprehended and understood by the killer in retrospect. In my own conversations with Dennis Nilsen, over several years, he did not try to excuse what he did, nor trivialise the devastating effect his actions had upon the families and loved ones of his victims. Instead, he sought to understand his actions in light of his particular circumstances. I cannot honestly say that he ever found a definitive answer as to why he became one of Britain’s most infamous serial killers, but if the answer is ever to be found it will be found within these pages.
MY THOUGHTS:
This is definitely a challenging review to write as although I was completely drawn into Nilsen's autobiography and found it fascinating I don't want to give Nilsen anymore airtime into his appalling crimes.
Having watched 'Des' on ITV and read History of a Drowning Boy I completely understand Nilsen's desire to put his own words on the page and for them to be listened to and unaltered. From reading this autobiography I gauge that Nilsen felt his words were twisted somewhat in other publications and that the writers' own opinions were filtered into the pages creating a biased that Nilsen felt unjust. It is fair to say that Nilsen is a remarkable writer and his words flowed from the page seamlessly. Although some of the content was hard to read due to the gruesome and disturbing nature it was interesting to hear the thoughts of Nilsen when describing his own childhood and crimes.
I completely get that Nilsen felt the police and prison system was corrupt and that he suffered unjustly at the hands of those incharge but I must admit that my own sympathy had elapsed at this time and I found it hard to read impartially. I appreciate that Nilsen was trying to communicate the 'truth' about what happened but also felt that it was the truth through his eyes and not necessarily unbiased either. Nilsen comes across as an intelligent man who suffered a great deal during his childhood through sexual abuse and neglect, never forming good positive relationships with his family. He was a loner throughout his whole life and I can appreciate how this negatively impacted his life.
What this book does do is give you an insight into the mind of a serial killer. It paints a picture that Nilsen wants to portray to the world away from anyone else's biases and opinion. I can clearly understand how the media would have angered him with their headlines and negative press and how this may have triggered his need for the 'truth' to be known. Obviously, like me, the reader will impart their own judgement when reading, stemming from their own life experiences. History Of A Drowning Boy is an interesting, psychological account of Nilsen's life that is thought-provoking and an addictive read.
AUTHOR:
Dennis Nilsen was a serial killer who was born on November 23, 1945, in Fraserburgh, Scotland. Though Nilsen recognized his homosexual desires, he was never comfortable with them and began acting on them through murder and dismemberment. Nilsen's first victim was in 1978, he went on to kill, according to his confession, twelve young men and dissect their bodies. When police finally arrested him in 1983, it quickly became apparent that, had they linked a series of reported incidents from lucky escapees over the previous five years, they might well have halted his ghoulish killing spree considerably sooner.
About Mark Austin
Mark first met Dennis Nilsen in 1992 following a year-long correspondence. Curiosity was his initial motive for contact (Mark had previously lived close to one of Dennis’ flat in North London) but they soon became friends. Over the years, Dennis handed Mark all of his writings, notes, documents, poems, received letters, official prison papers and reports, clothing, audio cassettes and artefacts etc, in fact, all his possessions – as they accumulated – for safe keeping. In 2009, he was registered as his next of kin and, in 2018, he was the only ‘civilian’ to attend Dennis’ funeral.