The Courage of His Convictions

<p><i>''I first met Robert Allerton in prison, where he was captive and I was not... He was a powerful broad-shouldered Cockney [who] had spent his childhood in poverty and much of his manhood in prison; and he had a long record of violent crime.'' </i>Tony Parker, from his Introduction<br><br>Tony Parker''s first book <i>The Courage of His Convictions</i> (1962), constructed out of his candid and illuminating dialogues with career criminal Robert Allerton (credited as co-author), is a stunning work that displays all the skills and virtues Parker would bring to his subsequent career as an ''oral historian'' of the lives of society''s marginal figures. <br><br>''This intimate autobiography is a revelation - it provides the first psychological insight into the mentality of that frightening, mysterious and pathetic product of our society, the professional criminal.'' Arthur Koestler</p>