A propos de l'auteur
Carl Chinn is Professor of Community History at the University of Birmingham and Director of BirminghamLives at South Birmingham College.
Œuvres de Carl Chinn
Peaky Blinders - The Real Story of Birmingham's most notorious gangs: The No. 1 Sunday Times Bestseller (2019) 95 exemplaires
The Real Peaky Blinders: Billy Kimber, the Birmingham Gang and the Racecourse Wars of the 1920s (2014) 20 exemplaires
Peaky Blinders: The Legacy - The real story of Britain’s most notorious 1920s gangs: The follow-up to the Sunday… (2020) 12 exemplaires
Poverty Amidst Prosperity: The Urban Poor in England, 1834-1914 (New Frontiers in History) (1995) 7 exemplaires
Free Parks for the People: A History of Birmingham's Municipal Parks, 1844-1974 (2012) 5 exemplaires
Our Brum (Volume 1) 1 exemplaire
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Sexe
- male
- Nationalité
- UK
- Lieux de résidence
- Birmingham, England, UK
- Professions
- professor (community history|University of Birmingham)
author
writer
historian - Prix et distinctions
- Order of the British Empire (Member, 2001)
Membres
Critiques
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Auteurs associés
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 28
- Membres
- 221
- Popularité
- #101,335
- Évaluation
- 3.2
- Critiques
- 4
- ISBN
- 50
- Langues
- 3
Chinn wastes no time disposing of the idea of the peaky blinders shown in the TV series. They were only around in the pre World War 1 era and were only called that because they wore flat caps, not because they blinded people with razors. They were not an organised gang, but an alliance of a few petty criminals in different neighbourhoods of Birmingham.
The apogee of the Birmingham gang wars came after WW1, when soldiers returned home with few prospects, no money and a much better idea of how to organise and discipline themselves. Led by Billy Kimber, they infested racecourses, stealing from patrons, and running protection scams against bookies. Their influence extended to other parts of the country, including London, where they met a serious threat from rivals for their trade.
There are a few familiar names in this book for viewers of the series, such as Kimber and Alfie Solomon, but their real stories are quite different. In that sense, the title of this book is not right, as the people Chinn writes about had nothing much to do with the peaky blinders.
I found this an absorbing read, but I was disappointed that there were no accompanying photos, which I always enjoy seeing in a social history. There are photos of these people out there, and this book could have been much improved by including some of them.… (plus d'informations)