THE OSCAR WILDE FILE treats history as news, news as history, in telling the story of the trials and tribulations that were heaped upon the great Irish writer following the "Black" Marquess of Queensberry's accusation that he was "posing as Somdomite," an accusation that was made at the time when Wilde was enjoying his greatest success, with two plays (An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest) their premieres in the West End and on Broadway. Press cuttings, pictures, posters, theatre programmes, and other ephemera are used to recreate the fascination felt by readers in 1895. New light is thrown on many of the leading participants, including Lord Alfred Douglas, and the sly parts played by two men, actors in the production of An Ideal Husband, are revealed as being salient in bringing about Wilde's downfall. As in most great tragedies, there are moments of high comedic relief and the tale has implications, even now, concerning public and Establishment attitudes to pornography, homosexuality, and the use and misuse of the Law by the rich and powerful. THE OSCAR WILDE FILE is a splendidly entertaining book but one that will make many people wish that they were reading fiction, not fact. JONATHAN GOODMAN, the crime historian, was for some years a theatre director and television producer. As well as being the author of a number of books on crime, he was editor of the Celebrated Trials series and is editor of a series of anthologies of classic true murder stories published by Allison & Busby, which so far includes The Pleasures of Murder, The Railway Murders The Seaside Murders, The Christmas Murders and The Count House Murders; The Vintage Car Murders is in preparation. THE OSCAR WILDE FILE is part of a new series he is editing for Allison Busby, which presents famous events of the past as contemporary news. The first title in this series was The Crippen File which is "a pure delight" (Colin Wilson), "compelling reading" (Sunday Express) and a clever new way to tell the story" (Daily Mail). He has in addition published several novels and a volume of poetry and recently edited The Master Eccentric, the journals of his fellow crime historian and writer Rayner Heppenstall. Jonathan Goodman is a member of the British Academy of Forensic Sciences, the Medico-Legal Society and Our Society. "Goodman is the premier English investigator of crimes past" Julian Symons, The Times Literary Supplement. "The greatest living master of the true crime literature" Jacques Barzun" ( flyleaf )