Soldier, Sailor, Beggarman, Thief: Crime and the British Armed Services since 1914 - Hardcover

Emsley, Clive

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199653712 ISBN 13: 9780199653713

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2013

Synopsis

The belief that crime declines at the beginning of major wars, as young men are drawn into the armed forces, and increases with the restoration of peace, as brutalised veterans are released on to a labour market reorganising for peace, has a long pedigree in Britain. But it has rarely been examined critically and scarcely at all for the period of the two world wars of the twentieth century. This is the first serious investigation of criminal offending by members of the British armed forces both during and immediately after these wars. Its particular focus is the two world wars but, recognising the concerns and the problems voiced in recent years about veterans of the Falklands, the Gulf wars, and the campaign in Afghanistan, Clive Emsley concludes his narrative in the present.

About this title

About the Author:

Clive Emsley was educated at the University of York and at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and has taught and held visiting fellowships in Australia, Canada, France, and New Zealand. He has published widely on the history of crime and policing, including Crime and Society in England 1750-1900 (now in its fourth edition), Crime and Society in Twentieth-Century England and The Great British Bobby: A History of British Policing from the 18th Century to the Present. He was president of the International Association for the History of Crime and Criminal Justice for ten years.

Review:

"This is a scholarly, well-documented account, and much of the book is given over to colorful specific accounts that make it utterly fascinating reading, suitable for a large audience....Highly recommended."--CHOICE

"Clive Emsley...has over the last twenty-five years established himself as Britain's foremost historian of twentieth-century crime and policing, so it is highly welcome that with his latest book project he has turned his attention to a significant but hitherto mostly unexamined problem within that larger story--that of the relationship between crime and the British armed services....This is an excellent book demonstrating the author's clear mastery of the sources, carefully and compassionately argued, and will be of value not just to historians of modern Britain but to anyone interested in the complicated relationship between the military and civilian spheres of life."--Journal of Modern History

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0199653712
• ISBN 13: 9780199653713
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 234