Peaky Blinders: The Real Story The New True History of Birmingham's Most Notorious Gangs

by Carl Chinn

The Peaky Blinders as we know them, thanks to the hit TV series, are infused with drama and dread.

Fashionably dressed, the charismatic but deeply flawed Shelby family blind enemies by slashing them with the disposable safety razor blades stitched in to the peaks of their flat caps, as they fight bloody gangland wars involving Irish terrorists and the authorities led by a devious Home Secretary, Winston Churchill.

But who were the real Peaky Blinders? Did they really exist?

Well-known social historian, broadcaster and author, Carl Chinn, has spent decades searching them out. Now he reveals the true story of the notorious Peaky Blinders, one of whom was his own great grandfather and, like the Shelbys, his grandfather was an illegal bookmaker in back-street Birmingham.

In this gripping social history, Chinn shines a light on the rarely reported struggles of the working class in one of the great cities of the British Empire before the First World War. The story continues after 1918 as some Peaky Blinders transformed into the infamous Birmingham Gang.

Led by the real Billy Kimber, they fought a bloody war with the London gangsters Darby Sabini and Alfie Solomon over valuable protection rackets extorting money from bookmakers across the booming postwar racecourses of Britain.

Drawing together a remarkably wide-range of original sources, including interviews with relatives of the 1920s gangsters, Peaky Blinders: The Real Story adds a new dimension to the true history of Birmingham's underworld and fact behind its fiction.

Genres: Crime

Audiobook

Published September 19, 2019

Reviews

[Helen Hollick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is probably not much more that I can add about the book that is not already said in the blurb above.

The TV series Peaky Blinders has been drawing viewers (at least here in the UK) to their TV screens like moths to a flame. It is an absorbing, creative, well-acted and superbly filmed TV drama about the violent gangsters of Birmingham in the years between the Great War and WWII. Like the TV drama the book includes the poverty of the post-war era and the violence of the ‘Peaky Blinders’ themselves, but unlike the series the book is not full of action-packed edge-of-your-seat unable to look away thrills a minute.

This is a social history. It is well researched but does tend to read a little like a transcript from a history lecture in places. There is quite a bit of repetition of things already said, but, all the same, I found it an interesting read, and it would be very useful as a reference source for any authors writing about this period of Midlands England.

I’m not sure how it managed to become a Sunday Times Bestseller (I give it four stars), though I suspect readers bought it because they expected something similar to the TV series. Judging by the number of Amazon low-star reviews, many of these readers were disappointed. There are more than a few typos – the book needs another proof read; however, it is free on Kindle Unlimited if you are a subscriber, so worth a look if this period of history is of particular interest.

Originally Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds

[Donnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a very interesting read and provided a genuine insight into the real Peaky Blinders through historical accuracy, family lineage and paper trails passed down through the ages. The author really did his home work to ensure he provided an authentic account.

The writing however was fairly simple, I understand with books like this you are simply telling a story, not drumming it up but telling the authentic truth. Which I think is how it should be done. However I believe the way he used his writing to portray points could have been a lot better. It was admittedly hard to stay focussed or drawn in at times due to this.

However like I said this book is choc full of facts, knowledge of the gang and what they were really like, which is important in todays world to understand what our ancestors went through and how we could improve. I’m glad I got the chance to pick this up and understand the real Peaky Blinders, not the sensationalised version on TV.

If you are looking for understanding, facts and a clear cut to the point language on the gang and at points others like them, this is the book for you. If you however are easily bored or need some stimulation through writing this book is perhaps not for you. The Author clearly has a lot of potential and is great at showing us the authentic truth. I hope to see more from him in the future.

2/5

[diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I enjoyed it. I love history and I liked reading about what my fav TV series was based on. I found it to be slow and read more like a history textbook for a lot of the book. I found myself bored by the writing at times, until chapter 4. I thought the last 2 chapters were much more interesting, especially learning about the real figures some characters were based on.
I hope the author realizes that TV is supposed to be glamorous and fictional… that’s part of the appeal of Peaky. It’s not supposed to be entirely accurate, it was glamorous for a reason. It seemed like this book was a persuasive essay trying to convince me “the tv series was inaccurate!” Like great, already knew that and most people don’t care. The show wasn’t supposed to be a true period drama.
That being said, I definitely learned some interesting tidbits and I did enjoy this book and will remember the real history I learned from it. And I’ll keep enjoying my fictional gangsters too, thank you!

[Paul Kearney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victorian Birmingham was a city brimming with Peaky Blinders, Because Birmingham was a city with no communal spaces or gardens, Leaving the working classes to cobbled streets, Racial tensions and harsh Police policy towards street gambling driven by middle class outrage.

'Born of careless or indifferent parents from an early age the streets were his only playground. This is where he found his chums, Amongst similarly ill favoured lads feeling no one cares for him he in turn need care for none'

Like modern day football hooliganism rather than career criminals, They tended to be hard working during the week, With their violent criminality almost solely confined to weekends.
But where there is unregulated fast money there will be career criminals, And Birmingham gangs could terrorise Horse racing tracks all over the country.

[Pipps · Rating 1 out of 5]

"My attempt to flog my historical postgraduate thesis", is how this book should have been titled. It has frankly nothing whatsoever to do with the popular television series that was based very loosely on reality. Instead, this pamphlet documents life in working class Victorian Birmingham. Poorly written, repetitive and full of typographical errors. I cannot see why anyone who values their own time and who is not being paid to adjudicate on an exam board would read beyond the first few chapters. I lived in Birmingham and know every street painstakingly described in these pages. But there is nothing bookworthy about simply copying out notes from reference library newspaper research sessions.

[Brendan Day · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a valuable piece of history, and Chinn is nothing if not meticulous with his research. But the telling of it is deathly dull; there are only so many samey descriptions of the violence between different Birmingham streets you can wade through before wishing there was more truth to Cillian Murphy’s gangster vision.

[Stephen Tubbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The violent sections are a bit blow to blow & repetitive but the history is much interesting once we get into the territory of betting shops & racecourses - which is excellent working class fodder.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little hard to follow with not knowing the history of multiple gangs but very interesting nonetheless.

[Julia Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and knowledgeable read

[Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was educational and told more of the story of how the peaky blinders began and parts of the actually series involved and explained.