Night Raiders: Burglary and the Making of Modern Urban Life in London, 1860-1968 - Hardcover

Moss, Eloise

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198840381 ISBN 13: 9780198840381

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2019

Synopsis

Night Raiders is the first history of burglary in modern Britain. Until 1968, burglary was defined in law as occurring only between the 'night-time' hours of nine pm and six am in residential buildings. Time and space gave burglary a unique cloak of terror, since burglars' victims were likely to be in the bedroom, asleep and unawares, when the intruder crept in, prowling near them in the darkness. Yet fear sometimes gave way to sexual fantasy; eroticized visions of handsome young thieves sneaking around the boudoirs of beautiful, lonely heiresses emerged alongside tales of violence and loss in popular culture, confounding social commentators by casting the burglar as criminal hero.

Night Raiders charts how burglary lay historically at the heart of national debates over the meanings of 'home', experiences of urban life, and social inequality. The book explores intimate stories of the devastation caused by burglars' presence in the most private domains, showing how they are deeply embedded within broader histories of capitalism and liberal democracy. The fear and fascination surrounding burglary were mobilized by media, state, and market to sell insurance and security technologies, whilst also popularising the crime in fiction, theatre, and film. Cat burglars' rooftop adventures transformed ideas about the architecture and policing of the city, and post-war 'spy-burglars' theft of information illuminated Cold War skirmishes across the capital. More than any other crime, burglary shaped the everyday rhythms, purchases, and perceptions of modern urban life.

About this title

About the Author

Eloise Moss, Lecturer in Modern British History, University of Manchester

Eloise Moss is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Manchester. Her research deals with histories of crime, gender, and urban culture from the Victorian period to the present. You can follow her on twitter: @ladyburglar.

Review

"[A] detailed, richly informative account of burglary in the British capital ... A number of [...] chapters are full not only of delightful information but provocative ideas." -- Matthew Beaumont, The Telegraph

"In Eloise Moss, that nocturnal invasion of the Englishman's castle has found its most able historian ... the book reveals delights and surprises for the historian, offering every conceivable aspect of burglary in British legal and social history for consideration ... Perhaps the greatest strength in her arguments and assertions about the importance of burglary is in the dimension of urban life and housing, as she provides impressive detail on these topics, covering everything one might imagine, from metaphors of rape to police and public relations." -- Stephen Wade, The Times Literary Supplement

"Eloise Moss' excellent new history of burglars and burglary [is] the result of meticulous research coupled with a style that is highly readable and often amusing. The book is packed with little details that bring it alive." -- Clive Bloom, The Times Higher Education Supplement

"A full account of that offence and its various influences on law and society has been long overdue. It was well worth the wait; in Eloise Moss, that nocturnal invasion of the Englishman's castle has found its most able historian ... the book reveals delights and surprises for the historian, offering every conceivable aspect of burglary in British legal and social history for consideration ... a refreshing and worthwhile approach to the history of crime and law." -- Stephen Wade, Times Literary Supplement

"Using official records, newspaper reports, books, films and television programmes, both fact and fiction, [Moss] has put together a vivid account of the history of burglary ... [which] should be of interest to a wide range of readers. -- Tony Moore, London Historians

"It's a brilliantly original book ... The gender study within the narrative is a gold mine and upends the normative assumption that burglars were always and only men." -- Richard Lofthouse, QUAD

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0198840381
• ISBN 13: 9780198840381
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 268