Description
This detailed study of the criminal justice system in Victorian Britain highlights the dilemmas facing those responsible for administering justice and protecting society from "the criminal." Encompassing the crimes of the never-identified Jack the Ripper, as well as many other equally intriguing criminals, Hooligans, Harlots, and Hangmen: Crime and Punishment in Victorian Britain is a detailed study of the criminal justice system as it evolved from the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837 to the outbreak of the "Great War" in 1914. The first section of the book considers crimes and criminals, while the second looks at the ways in which the Victorians sought to explain this deviant behavior. The third section focuses on the creation of criminals through the work of the constabulary and the courts. The final section considers the changing ways in which criminals were punished as the scaffold gave way to the prison as the dominant means of punishment. A brief introduction and conclusion set Victorian crime into its broader sociopolitical context and relates the issues society grappled with then to those of the present day.
This detailed study of the criminal justice system in Victorian Britain highlights the dilemmas facing those responsible for administering justice and protecting society from "the criminal."
About the Author
David Taylor is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK.
Reviews
Recommended. Most levels/libraries. * Choice *
Taylor's book is the first volume in a new series, A Criminal History of Britain, which appears aimed at offering serious academic syntheses of different periods while remaining accessible to a broad readership. While it is too early to judge the series as a whole, Taylor certainly ensures it an excellent start. . . . David Taylor's book deserves to become a standard work on nineteenth-century crime and criminal justice. I have little doubt it will do so. * Journal of Social History *
Book Information
ISBN 9780313383557
Author David Taylor
Format Hardback
Page Count 308
Imprint Praeger Publishers Inc
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Weight(grams) 482g
This detailed study of the criminal justice system in Victorian Britain highlights the dilemmas facing those responsible for administering justice and protecting society from "the criminal."
About the Author
David Taylor is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK.
Reviews
Recommended. Most levels/libraries. * Choice *
Taylor's book is the first volume in a new series, A Criminal History of Britain, which appears aimed at offering serious academic syntheses of different periods while remaining accessible to a broad readership. While it is too early to judge the series as a whole, Taylor certainly ensures it an excellent start. . . . David Taylor's book deserves to become a standard work on nineteenth-century crime and criminal justice. I have little doubt it will do so. * Journal of Social History *
Book Information
ISBN 9780313383557
Author David Taylor
Format Hardback
Page Count 308
Imprint Praeger Publishers Inc
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Weight(grams) 482g
