The Ascent of the Detective
Price:
$55.00 (06)Description
The figure of the detective has long excited the imagination of the wider public, and the English police detective has been a special focus of attention in both print and visual media. Yet, while much has been written in the last three decades about the history of uniformed policemen in England, no similar work has focused on police detectives. The Ascent of the Detective redresses this by exploring the diverse and often arcane world of English police detectives during the formative period of their profession, from 1842 until the First World War, with special emphasis on the famed detective branch established at Scotland Yard.The book starts by illuminating the detectives' socioeconomic background, how and why they became detectives, their working conditions, the differences between them and uniformed policemen, and their relations with the wider community. It then goes on to trace the factors that shaped their changing public image, from the embodiment of 'un-English' values to plebeian knights in armour, investigating the complex and symbiotic exchange between detectives and journalists, and analysing their image as it unfolded in the press, in literature, and in their own memoirs.
Features
- The first major history of English police detectives in the Victorian and Edwardian era
- Deals with the formative era of police detection in England, from 1842 to the First World War
- Explores their socio-economic background and situation as well as their crucial relationship with journalists and the publishing community
- Includes a special focus on the famed detective branch established at Scotland Yard
Reviews
"This is a detailed and well-organized look at the British detective at the scene of the crime, in the newspaper, and in novels. At the start of this rich historical account, the very idea of a detective force is acceptable to no members of any class within Britain, and by the end, the detective is regarded as, if not a hero, then at least a stolid, hardworking official with the best interests of the public at heart. An ascent indeed." --The Dispatch
Product Details
448 pages; 16 black and white halftones; 9.2 x 6.1; ISBN13: 978-0-19-957740-8ISBN10: 0-19-957740-4About the Author(s)
Haia Shpayer-Makov currently teaches British and European history at the University of Haifa, Israel. She began her academic career by concentrating on the anarchist movement in Britain, but later shifted her interest to the study of the anarchists' enemies - policemen. Author of The Making of a Policeman. A Social History of a Labour Force in Metropolitan London (2002), and co-editor with Professor Clive Emsley of Police Detectives in History, 1750-1950 (2006), she has also published extensively in leading scholarly journals.
