During the 20th Century, unarmed Scotland Yard detectives and their uniform counterparts needed to be physically tough and fearless, given the ruthless, armed criminals they confronted.

In this thrilling book, the author draws on archival correspondence and first-hand experiences from his contemporaries. ‘Pat the Cat’ was a detective who was awarded a British Empire Medal for gallantry after surviving a fusillade of shots from an escaped convict and was awarded a Bar to the medal, four years later after being severely injured, when thwarting an armed robbery.

We learn of police officers who, despite being shot, went on to arrest the gunman, plus the Flying Squad detective who dismantled a ticking IRA bomb, primed to detonate outside Scotland Yard.

PC Reggie Grose won a George Medal for rescuing a group, trapped in a building during the Blitz and after wartime service with No. 3 Commando, returned to undertake hazardous duties as an undercover officer with the secretive Ghost Squad. Detective Sergeant Ryland only survived being killed by sticking his thumb between the hammer and the percussion cap of his assailant’s revolver and when an army deserter fired shots at the police, he was caught with the assistance of Police Dog, Rex III and a detective’s truncheon. Two officers tackled a mentally deranged axeman on a roof, 50 feet above street level, warding off his attack with a pig-bin lid – these and many other tales of outstanding bravery await the reader in the pages of Scotland Yard’s Bravest and Best.