Thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for granting my wish and giving me access to this ARC !

As soon as I saw this book i knew I needed to read it. Being born and raised in the black country this was a very interesting read. I love our unique little history and I rate it 4 🌟

This was an interesting read.

The author, Tracey Blundell, divides the book into chapters and introduces certain crimes in these chapters. This made things easier to read and I believe the categorization system was well made. Blundell uses tables as well for their arguments which is helpful to understand. I believe the author did their research very well.

I liked that Blundell has introduced Black Country at the beginning of the book as I am not that familiar with the term. As a part of my research, I sometimes have to check crime cases so I understand the frustration with the lack of sources very well. However, just like how Blundell clarifies, that by no means the book is not enough to cover the crimes of the Victorian Black Country.

My problems were usually with the writing. Blundell states at the beginning of the book that this book was based on their master’s degree research. Maybe it is because of that or not but I believe Blundell did not clarify some things well. For example, when Blundell was talking about the historians in “What the Historians Have to Say” I realized there were only surnames without first names. This is common throughout the book and while some people are clearly easier to understand whom they are referred to such as “Hobsbawm”, I believe only last names is not enough for people who are not familiar with this research area. Similar thing happens later on in Chapter 3 where Blundell mentions historians. Since Blundell only speaks of historians but does not give examples from them, we only have to believe in these words.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and I believe the author did their research well but I am not sure who the audience for this book is. The reader can still understand the arguments in this book and Blundell clarifies many things regarding to Victorian Black Country. However, the tone is quite academic and while Blundell explains many things, we are expected to know some of the arguments too, so it makes it a bit confusing.

Thanks to Netgalley, Pen & Sword and Tracey Blundell for this advanced reader copy.

This may seem like a fairly narrow or niche topic but it is actually far more encompassing than the title suggests, offering analysis and insights into the wider English society of the time. There is a lot of useful information about laws and policing of the era, which makes for a great read. It’s written in quite an academic style, but there are plenty of case studies to keep any reader engaged. Unfortunately, the tables don’t translate across to kindle format, which is a shame.