Criminal and Victim: Crime and Society in Early Nineteenth-Century England

by George Rudé

This social history not only studies crime and punishment in early 19th-century England, but also draws on higher court records to reconstruct case histories of the actual people involved in the prisoners and the victims. The book focuses on Sussex, Gloucester, and Middlesec
counties, each in its own way typical of developments in early British industrial society between 1800 and 1850. By examining crime as a social as well as a legal phenomenon, the book casts new light on the different urban and rural patterns of crime, the influence of economic and political
factors, and the social profiles of both criminals and victims.

154 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 1985

About the author

George Rudé was a British Marxist historian, specializing in the French Revolution and "history from below," especially the importance of crowds in history.