Description
Book SynopsisFirst book to bring together the wide range of violent entertainments that characterised popular culture in nineteenth-century London and seriously assesses their origins, functions and impact. Draws upon the methodologies of social and cultural history to better understand the texture of Victorian society, and the mental world of the lower orders.
Table of ContentsList of figures, tables and diagrams
Acknowledgements
Prologue
1. London 1800–50: Coping with change, expressing resistance
2. About town with Mr Punch
3. From scaffold culture to the cult of the murderer
4. The ‘Blood-Stained Stage’ revisited
5. Selling Sweeney Todd to the masses
6. The rise of modern crime reporting
Epilogue: 1870 – The Civilising Moment?
Bibliography
Index
