Jonathan Wild (baptised 6 May 1683 – 24 May 1725) was perhaps the most infamous criminal of London — and possibly Great Britain — during the 18th century, both because of his own actions and the uses novelists, playwrights, and political satirists made of them. He invented a scheme which allowed him to run one of the most successful gangs of thieves of the era, all the while appearing to be the nation's leading policeman. He manipulated the press and the nation's fears to become the most loved public figure of the 1720s; this love turned to hatred when his villainy was exposed. After his death, he became a symbol of corruption and hypocrisy.
Read more about Jonathan Wild: Early Life, Coming Into His Own, Wild's Public Career As "Thief-Taker General", The Jack Sheppard Struggle and Downfall, Arrest, Trial and Execution, Literary Treatments
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“I should be glad if all the meadows on the earth were left in a wild state, if that were the consequence of men’s beginning to redeem themselves.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)