-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Jessica Meyer, Clive Emsley. Soldier, Sailor, Beggarman, Thief: Crime and the British Armed Services since 1914., The American Historical Review, Volume 119, Issue 1, February 2014, Page 255, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/119.1.255
Close - Share Icon Share
Extract
In Soldier, Sailor, Beggarman, Thief, Clive Emsley sets out to explore the historic reality behind some of the myths surrounding crime and the British military in the twentieth century. Chief among these is the belief that the outbreak of the two world wars saw reductions in crime, as young men who otherwise would have become criminals were drawn into military service. He also unpacks the related belief that demobilized men, brutalized by war, caused a surge in postwar criminal activity. Interested in more than simply debunking myths, however, Emsley here makes an important contribution to discussions of the significance of the “citizen soldier” through his clear demonstration of the impact of mass mobilization on both definitions of criminal behavior and the administration of military justice. From locating twentieth-century mutinies within the long social history of industrial unrest to drawing parallels between the roles and actions of the civilian and military courts, as well as describing how the military court system in the period aligned with civilian judicial reforms, the book demonstrates how the definition and treatment of criminal behavior among service personnel was influenced by Britain's engagement in total war for most of the first half of the twentieth century.
