Hard Men: The English and Violence Since 1750

by Clive Emsley

The garrotters who terrified London in 1862, the Irish Fenians who carried our terrorist bombings in London, and the gangs who dominated parts of the East End in the early years of the twentieth century all used violence to achieve their ends. Hard Men is a survey of the changing pattern of violent behavior, public and private, in England over two hundred and fifty years. People in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were certainly more tolerant of domestic violence and rough communal sports and celebrations than their grandchildren. Contentious public meetings, notably elections, could end in serious injuries; the state and the police exercised control by violent means where they deemed it necessary; and there were of course violent crimes committed by men, women and children. While the practice of violence reflected changes in society and attitudes, it is difficult to point to a golden age in the past without it.

Genres: History

225 pages, Hardcover

First published July 8, 2005

Reviews

[Peter Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a solid academic study of societal violence within England from 1750 - 2000. The title is a bit misleading, as it focuses not only on men, but also women, sport, institutions and the state. It's actually quite wide ranging and at 184 pages plus notes, never outstays its welcome.

Emsley examines why England wasn't seen as being as violent as other states, looking at English exceptionalism, moral panics, crime statistics and changing attitudes to what can be considered an acceptable level of violence. I found the section on the Bloody Code to be the standout, although obviously not as detailed as the work of Hay.

This book is a nice, fairly straight forward read, even if it is now perhaps a tad dated.

[Shake n' Vac]

This is more an easy, accessible read like his 'Bobby' book rather than his Policing and its Context book and as such is more a collection of anecdotes to prove points. Emsley rightly points out the flaws in using statistics to build a case upon for a number of reasons (the lack of a collective interpretation as in when would a threat of violence become sufficient to turn theft into robbery, for example) and then goes onto to show how in various ways that England has always been a rough place and we just don't like to admit to it. I am not sure I fully support all of his conclusions, but this is still a good read.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good discussion of violence in English society over the last two hundred years. Best insight for me was the inclusion of sports as an accepted level of violence. Author did get a bit stodgy toward the end - especially in his conclusion. However, I did agree (to a point) with his overall comments about contemporary jingoism and political uses and abuses of violence statistics.