Violence in Late Victorian and Edwardian England

The burgeoning historiography of Victorian crime has engendered a proliferation of historical studies in recent years. Few of these studies, however, focus in detail on interpersonal violence. This book examines the nature and incidence of interpersonal violence in late Victorian and Edwardian England. Based on extensive original research around three Staffordshire towns, it explores patterns of violence and the prosecution of summary assault in local magistrates courts. Emphasis is stressed on the social context of violence in a classed based society. The study examines 2,308 assault trials, drawing on magistrates court records, police charge books and reports of these incidents in the local press. The book explores patterns of street violence and social relations between the police and the public, and the link between economic indices, drink and violence. The book provides a detailed analysis of marital violence and sexual assault and prevailing attitudes to gender and sexuality. This study is essential reading for the student of 19th and early 20th century crime and it provides useful background reading for contemporary students of criminology.