Crime, Regulation and Control During the Blitz

Crime, Regulation and Control during the Blitz looks at the social effect of bombing on urban centres like Liverpool, Coventry and London, critically examining how the wartime authorities struggled to regulate and control crime and offending during the Blitz. Focusing predominantly on Liverpool, it investigates how the authorities and citizens anticipated the aerial war, and how the State and local authorities proposed to contain and protect a population made unruly, potentially deviant and drawn into a new landscape of criminal regulation.Drawing on a range of contemporary sources, the book throws into relief today's experiences of war and terror, the response in crime and deviancy, and the experience and practices of preparedness in anticipation of terrible threats. The authors reveal how everyday activities became criminalised through wartime regulations and explore how other forms of crime such as looting, theft and drunkenness took on a new and frightening aspect. Crime, Regulation and Control during the Blitz offers a critical contribution to how we understand crime, security, and regulation in both the past and the present.

IntroductionPart I: Preparation1. Anticipation and Preparation for the Blitz2. The Nervous System of Police Control and War-Time RegulationPart II: Blitz3. Wartime Crime and Criminalisation4. Measuring Crime and Disorder, and Maintaining Morale5. Preventing and Dealing with Juvenile Delinquency6. Controlling Movement in the City7. The Black Market and Circuits of CriminalityPart III: Aftermath8. The Legacy of the BlitzConclusion: Living with TerrorBibliographyIndex