Jonathan Wild

The real-life Jonathan Wild, gangland godfather and self-styled ''Thieftaker General'', controlled much of the London underworld until he was executed for his crimes in 1725. Fielding produced one of the greatest sustained satires in the English language based on his life. Published in 1743, Jonathan Wild is at the same time a brilliant black comedy, an incisive political satire, and a profoundly serious exploration of human ''greatness'' and ''goodness''.