Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900 (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

Clive Emsley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0582784859 | ISBN-13: 978-0582784857 | Publication Date: January 29, 2005 | Edition: 3

Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900 draws on recent research to assess the changes in the understanding of crime, policing, the courts and penal sanctions in England as the country industrialised and urbanised during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  The third edition brings the subject up-to-date by reflecting recent shifts away from class towards gender analysis, and the growing interest in violence as opposed to property crime.

 

• Explores the value of criminal statistics, the significance of contemporary notions of class and gender in understanding and formulating the image of the criminal
• Describes developments in policing and the shifting ideas that led to a decline in corporate and capital punishments and an increasing focus on the prison
• Challenges the view that crime can be attributed to the behaviour of a criminal class, and the ideas that crime patterns can be explained simply in terms of the trade cycle
• Examines changes in crime and the criminal justice system against the larger changes in an industrialising society

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Crime is one aspect of the world that seems to get inexorably worse as you get older¿.But how do the teenagers outside your local corner shop really compare with those in times past? Go to Crime and Society in England: 1750-1900 (Longman) by Clive Emsley; you might even take a copy to the corner shop and instigate an edifying debate.'

David Mattin, The Times, 20 July 2004

From the Back Cover

The history of crime and criminal justice is one of the most popular areas of modern social and cultural history. This third edition of Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900 draws on recent research to assess the changes in the understanding of crime, policing, the courts and penal sanctions in England as the country industrialised and urbanised during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Written in a clear and accessible manner, the book examines:

• perceptions of criminality during the period
• the significance of contemporary notions of class and gender in understanding and formulating the image of the criminal
• developments in policing
• the spread of summary punishment
• the increasing formality of the courts
• the shifting ideas that led to a decline in corporal and capital punishments and an increasing focus on prison

As in previous editions, the book challenges the view that crime can be attributed to the behaviour of a criminal class and that changes in the criminal justice system resulted from the vision of far-sighted reformers. This new edition also brings the subject up to date by reflecting recent shifts away from class towards gender analysis, and the growing interest in violence as opposed to property crime.

Written by an acknowledged expert in the field, the third edition of Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900 is essential reading for students of English social history.

Clive Emsley is Professor of History and co-director of the International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research at the Open University.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Longman; 3 edition (January 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0582784859
• ISBN-13: 978-0582784857
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,236,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent part of an excellent series, May 12, 2007

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M. Bullock "Clarisse" (Blackfoot, Idaho) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900 (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

I purchased Crime and Society in England,1750-1900, for research purposes for a historical novel I am writing and found it to be well-researched, engagingly written and extensive in the range of underworld behaviors that it covered. I have read other volumes in the Themes in British Social History series that this book is a part of and would certainly seek out other books from the series.