The Liverpool Underworld
The Liverpool Underworld
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Summary
A survey of the social and economic conditions and events that gave Liverpool a reputation for being the most crime-ridden place in the country in the nineteenth century.
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The Liverpool Underworld by Michael Macilwee
In the nineteenth century Liverpool gained an unenviable reputation as the most crime-ridden place in the country. Dock theft, alcohol-related crime, prostitution, sectarian violence, a high level of female offending and armies of juvenile thieves made Liverpool a distinct criminal landscape, ‘the black spot on the Mersey’. Using contemporary newspapers and journals (both local and national), autobiographies and first-hand accounts gleaned from parliamentary and prison reports, Michael Macilwee explores the social background, conditions and events that helped create and sustain the variety and high level of criminality in Liverpool. The book provides accounts, statistics and analysis of criminal practices ranging from poaching to pocket-picking to prostitution. It also makes space for the voices of the long-forgotten Liverpool poor and members of the so-called ‘criminal classes’, exhuming fascinating first-person accounts of motives, fears and aspirations long buried in archives. Macilwee also considers the ways in which various institutions, including the police, courts, prisons, churches and philanthropic organizations, attempted to bring order to the streets and improve the behaviour of the Liverpool public. Finally, the book suggests that we are still struggling with the legacy of Victorian social problems and their possible solutions, particularly in relation to debates about alcohol, prostitution and the usefulness of prison as a punishment.
A rattling good read
Clive Emsley, Open University
Clive Emsley, Open University
Dr Michael Macilwee is Information Officer at Liverpool John Moores University and best-selling author of 'The Gangs of Liverpool' (Milo Press).
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781846317002 |
| ISBN 10 | 1846317002 |
| Title | The Liverpool Underworld |
| Author | Michael Macilwee |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Liverpool University Press |
| Year published | 2011-11-04 |
| Number of pages | 272 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |