Crime in Early Modern England 1550-1750

Themes in British Social History

by James Sharpe

Still the only general survey of the topic available, this widely-used exploration of the incidence, causes and control of crime in Early Modern England throws a vivid light on the times. It uses court archives to capture vividly the everyday lives of people who would otherwise have left little mark on the historical record. This new edition - fully updated throughout - incorporates new thinking on many issues including gender and crime; changes in punishment; and literary perspectives on crime.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature, True Crime, Academic

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Debbie]

A good overview of crime in early modern England, considering everything from the process of analysis to law-makers and community justice. There is a reasonably heavy reliance on quantitative analysis over qualitative, but anecdotes are included where possible. As it is a broad brush stroke of English society in the two hundred years covered, when roughly 90% of the population lived in the countryside, there is a focus on rural crime over the more organized crimes found in London, and on community and social crime over serious felonies (murder/rape, etc). Sharpe justifies not straying into recusancy and religious crimes by rightly stating that entire libraries have been devoted to this subject, although a nod in that direction might have made the book feel more complete.
The book is reasonably dated now - the second edition came out over twenty years ago - and it is obviously not up-to-date with the recent scholarship that has brought a mass of additional evidence and analysis to the topic. Sharpe is also still somewhat caught up in arguing against the Marxist perspective, which did still hold some sway in the 1990s. This being said, it provides a wonderful jumping-off point for further research and, I would argue, is still the best accessible overview of early modern crime on the market.

[Casey Ward]

made me want to gouge my eyes out but for a class book not completely horrendous

[Heather]

It was okay. Somewhat repetitive in places, but we'll structured and the language was clear and concise so it was fairly easy to read.

[Lauren]

This is an excellent, well-organised and useful book that will no doubt help me tremendously throughout my 'Crime and Society 1550-1750' module at University. The book is perfect for my course and puts the subject across in an interesting and accessible way.

[Lynne]

Really useful and informative.