Violence and Crime in Nineteenth Century England

The Shadow of our Refinement

By J. Carter Wood

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About the Book

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.

Table of Contents

1. 'Speakable' Violence: Mentality and Violence, Narrative and Counternarrative 2. A Useful Savagery: Violence, Civilization and Middle-Class Identity 3. 'Vigorous Passions and Decided Actions': Custom and the Cultural Contexts of Violence 4. 'The Brave Old English Custom' : Dispute, Recreation and Ritual Violence among Working-Class Men 5. 'The Wrongdoing of the Poor Man Is as Open as Day' : Built Space, Imagined Space, Knowledge and Violence 6. 'Heave Half a Brick at a Stranger' : Strategies of Violence

About the Author(s)

J. Carter Wood received a Ph.D. in modern British history from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he also taught as a visiting lecturer. His work has appeared in the journal Crime, History & Societies and he was a contributor to Comparative Histories of Crime (2003). He lives and works in Germany.