This book
examines the way in which law worked in practice in later seventeenth
century northern England. It is an historical reconstruction, a detective
story. The participants, robbers, burglars, coin-clippers and Daniel
Fleming, the Justice who prosecuted them, come alive in the documents.
We learn about the inter-section between the criminal law and ordinary
life in the period.
The table
of contents is as follows.
Introduction:
the Rediscovery of Violence
1. 'A Black
and Terrible Troop'
2. 'The
Stoutest Deed that ever Man Did'
3. Clippers
and Coiners
4. Raising
the Hue and Cry
5. 'Insolent
and Formidable Felons'
6. Burglars
and Assailants
7. Highway
Robbers
8. Pickpockets
and Thieves
9. Accomplices
and Neighbours
10. Final
Trials and Legends
Conclusion:
English Violence in Context