Now in paperback, this book considers crime fighting from the perspective of the civilian city-goer, from the mid-Victorian garotting panics to 1914. It charts the shift from the use of body armour to the adoption of exotic martial arts through the works of popular playwrights and novelists, examining changing ideals of urban, middle-class heroism.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Note on the Text and Abbreviations Introduction PART I: THE GAROTTING FARCE: ARMOURED MASCULINITY AND ITS LIMITS: 1851-1867 Foreign Crimes Hit British Shores The Ticket-Of-Leave Man Tooled Up: The Pedestrian's Armoury PART II: ANTHONY TROLLOPE: AGGRESSION PUNISHED AND REWARDED: 1867-1887 Threats From Below And Above Lord Chiltern And Mr Kennedy Phineas Redux PART III: PHYSICAL FLAMBOYANCE IN THE SHERLOCK HOLMES CANON: 1887- 1914 Exotic Enemies Urban Knights In The London Streets Foreign Friends Bibliography Index

Emelyne Godfrey graduated with a PhD in English from Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. A freelance writer and researcher, she has written academic articles, dictionary and encyclopaedia entries and poetry. She is a regular contributor to History Today and is the Publicity Officer for the H.G. Wells Society.