ABSTRACT

This book illuminates the origins and development of violence as a social issue by examining a critical period in the evolution of attitudes towards violence. It explores the meaning of violence through an accessible mixture of detailed empirical research and a broad survey of cutting-edge historical theory.

The author discusses topics such as street fighting, policing, sports, community discipline and domestic violence and shows how the nineteenth century established enduring patterns in views of violence.

Violence and Crime in Nineteenth-Century England will be essential reading for advanced students and researchers of modern British history, social and cultural history and criminology.

chapter |7 pages

Introduction

Casting shadows

chapter 1|19 pages

“Speakable” violence

Mentality and violence, narrative and counternarrative

chapter 2|20 pages

A useful savagery

Violence, civilization and middle-class identity

chapter 3|23 pages

“Vigorous passions and decided actions”

Custom and the cultural contexts of violence

chapter 4|25 pages

“The brave old English custom”

Dispute, recreation and ritual violence among working-class men

chapter 5|24 pages

“The wrongdoing of the poor man is as open as day”

Built space, imagined space, knowledge and violence

chapter 6|19 pages

“Heave half a brick at a stranger”

Strategies of violence

chapter 7|10 pages

Conclusion