Combating London's Criminal Class

Matthew Bach

ISBN 10: 1350197173 / ISBN 13: 9781350197176

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, GB, 2022

About this Item

The criminal class was seen as a violent, immoral and dissolute sub-section of Victorian London's population. Making their living through crime and openly hostile to society, the lives of these criminals were characterised by drunkenness, theft and brutality. This book explores whether this criminal class did indeed truly exist, and the effectivenessof measures brought against it. Tracing the notion of the criminal class from as early as the 16th century, this book questions whether this sub-section of society did indeed exist. Bach discusses how unease of London's notorious rookeries, the frenzy of media attention and a [word deleted here] panic among the general public enforced and encouraged the fear of the 'criminal class' and perpetuated state efforts of social control. Using the Habitual Criminals Bills, this book explores how and why this legislation was introduced to deal with repeat offenders, and assesses how successful its repressive measures were. Demonstrating how the Metropolitan Police Force and London's Magistrates were not always willing tools of the British state, this book uses court records and private correspondence to reveal how inconsistent and unsuccessful many of these measures and punishments were, and calls into question the notion that the state gained control over recidivists in this period.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781350197176

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Combating London's Criminal Class
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, GB
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1350197173
• ISBN 13: 9781350197176
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.6W x 1.07H x 23.39D centimeters 15.6 centimeters width by 1.07 centimeters height by 23.39 centimeters depth
• Weight: 320 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The criminal class was seen as a violent, immoral and dissolute sub-section of Victorian London’s population. Making their living through crime and openly hostile to society, the lives of these criminals were characterised by drunkenness, theft and brutality. This book explores whether this criminal class did indeed truly exist, and the effectivenessof measures brought against it. Tracing the notion of the criminal class from as early as the 16th century, this book questions whether this sub-section of society did indeed exist. Bach discusses how unease of London’s notorious rookeries, the frenzy of media attention and a [word deleted here] panic among the general public enforced and encouraged the fear of the ‘criminal class’ and perpetuated state efforts of social control. Using the Habitual Criminals Bills, this book explores how and why this legislation was introduced to deal with repeat offenders, and assesses how successful its repressive measures were. Demonstrating how the Metropolitan Police Force and London's Magistrates were not always willing tools of the British state, this book uses court records and private correspondence to reveal how inconsistent and unsuccessful many of these measures and punishments were, and calls into question the notion that the state gained control over recidivists in this period.

About the Authors

Matthew Bach is an Australian historian, teacher and parliamentarian, who completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne. Heis currently a member of parliament in the state of Victoria, representing Melbourne's east

Anne-Marie Kilday is Principal Lecturer in History at Oxford Brookes University, UK.