City of Gangs: Glasgow and the Rise of the British Gangster

by Andrew Davies

During the 1920s and 1930s, Glasgow gained an unenviable and enduring notoriety as Britain's gang city - the 'Scottish Chicago'. Out of the most dilapidated and overcrowded tenements in Britain stepped young men and women dressed like Hollywood gangsters and their molls. On the city's streets they took centre stage in dramas of their own making, fighting territorial battles laced with religious sectarianism and running protection rackets modelled on those of the American underworld.

Drawing on fifteen years of original research, Andrew Davies, author of the acclaimed The Gangs of Manchester, brings to life the reign of terror exerted by gangs like the Billy Boys, the Kent Star, the Savoy Arcadians and the South Side Stickers.

He reveals the fascinating role played by the media in creating myths of the underworld. During what the Daily Express described as 'The War on the Gang', Glasgow's police were led by Chief Constable Percy Sillitoe (who later became head of M15), determined to maintain his image as a tough, gang-busting cop forged in Sheffield during the 1920s. This dramatic story, played out against the backdrop of the most volatile of Britain's cities, provides a new window onto the most turbulent period in modern British history and a timely reminder of how deprivation, unemployment and religious bigotry are a toxic cocktail in any era.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Crime, Scotland

464 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2013

About the author

Andrew Wynford Davies is a British author and screenwriter.

Reviews

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars!

“Isn’t it terrible? But I’ve seen worse in Durham.”

So said King Edward VIII on seeing some of the inner city slums of Glasgow during a tour in 1936. Not that he was interesting in actually do anything to help...

“Along with poverty and overcrowding, unemployment was more widespread in Glasgow than in most other British cities, and it persisted further into the 1930s: while those cities closer to London benefited from a slow recovery spurred by the expansion of light manufacturing industries, Glasgow – ‘Second City of the Empire’ and shipbuilding capital of the world as recently as 1913- stagnated. In 1936, 90,000 of the city's registered workers were unemployed compared to just 21,000 in Birmingham.”

This account is concerned mostly with the origins and to a lesser extent the root causes of the strong gang culture within Glasgow, it focuses more on the first half of the 1900s and doesn’t really stray beyond the 1950s for long or in any meaningful way, so that’s maybe something to consider for those looking for some historical background of the 1960s and beyond.

“The youths who make up the gangs of razor-slashers come from the poorest quarters of the city. They are badly housed. They are badly educated. Often they are badly fed and badly clothed. Invariably they are not surrounded by good character forming influences.”

This starts off well enough but as we get deeper into it, it seems to run out of steam and kind of lapses into a long and tired catalogue of petty or violent crimes and I felt like this would have benefited with less attention on the long list of crimes and a stronger emphasis on the wider context, to balance it out a bit more.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book of the history of gangs in Glasgow. It shows that we have not learnt from our history and we are still using the same negative arguments and stereotypes has we did then. Poverty, the high level of unemployment, peer pressure and boredom were clearly important reasons behind these gangs It was interesting to learn how football and other sports clubs were set up to deter young male adults from joining gangs. Another surprise was around the leniency of the sentences handed out especially when a gang member was killed by another gang member. Not everyone received a death sentence for taking a life.

[Mark Farley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended by the rapper and social campaigner, Akala, this thoroughly authoritative and comprehensive tome illustrates the history of the gangs and areas of Glasgow in the first half of the 20th Century. It's got colourful characters, insights into those who sought to curb the violence and a whole lot of blood and fighting. And quite gruesome in parts. If you liked the Gangs of New York/San Francisco books (and subsequent film), you will love this.

[Rees Jansen]

Good