This book provides a synthesis of recent research on the history of crime and criminal justice in Europe from the mid-18th to the mid-20th centuries. It tackles the subject chronologically, paying due attention to the evolving economic, social, and political aspects of the continent over the two centuries. It addresses specifically the different forms of criminal offending and the changing interpretations and understandings of that offending at both elite and popular levels. It explores how both old regimes and the new nation states, that emerged in the early 19th century, responded to crimina ... More

This book provides a synthesis of recent research on the history of crime and criminal justice in Europe from the mid-18th to the mid-20th centuries. It tackles the subject chronologically, paying due attention to the evolving economic, social, and political aspects of the continent over the two centuries. It addresses specifically the different forms of criminal offending and the changing interpretations and understandings of that offending at both elite and popular levels. It explores how both old regimes and the new nation states, that emerged in the early 19th century, responded to criminal activity with the development of police forces and the refinement of forms of punishment. The book has a comparative perspective and it draws attention to the ways in which different states observed each other's institutions, and adopted and moulded what suited them. It emphasises also the ways in which different reformers exchanged ideas and investigated policing and penal policy in other countries. These kinds of exchanges and observations are commonly missed with the usual focus on a single country or region. There is engagement throughout with the theoretical issues that have underpinned much of the recent research in the area, but the book aims to eschew any close identification with a single theoretical standpoint.