The Littlehampton Libels

A Miscarriage of Justice and a Mystery about Words in 1920s England

Nonfiction, History, Modern, 20th Century, British
Cover of the book The Littlehampton Libels by Christopher Hilliard, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Christopher Hilliard ISBN: 9780192520265
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: June 9, 2017
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Christopher Hilliard
ISBN: 9780192520265
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: June 9, 2017
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

The Littlehampton Libels tells the story of a poison-pen mystery that led to a miscarriage of justice in the years following the First World War. There would be four criminal trials before the real culprit was finally punished, with the case challenging the police and the prosecuting lawyers as much any capital crime. When a leading Metropolitan Police detective was tasked with solving the case, he questioned the residents of the seaside town of Littlehampton about their neighbours' vocabularies, how often they wrote letters, what their handwriting was like, whether they swore — and how they swore, for the letters at the heart of the case were often bizarre in their abuse. The archive that the investigation produced shows in extraordinary detail how ordinary people could use the English language in inventive and surprising ways at a time when universal literacy was still a novelty. Their personal lives, too, had surprises. The detective's inquiries and the courtroom dramas laid bare their secrets and the intimate details of neighbourhood and family life. Drawing on these records, The Littlehampton Libels traces the tangles of devotion and resentment, desire and manipulation, in a working-class community. We are used to emotional complexity in books about the privileged, but history is seldom able to recover the inner lives of ordinary people in this way.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Littlehampton Libels tells the story of a poison-pen mystery that led to a miscarriage of justice in the years following the First World War. There would be four criminal trials before the real culprit was finally punished, with the case challenging the police and the prosecuting lawyers as much any capital crime. When a leading Metropolitan Police detective was tasked with solving the case, he questioned the residents of the seaside town of Littlehampton about their neighbours' vocabularies, how often they wrote letters, what their handwriting was like, whether they swore — and how they swore, for the letters at the heart of the case were often bizarre in their abuse. The archive that the investigation produced shows in extraordinary detail how ordinary people could use the English language in inventive and surprising ways at a time when universal literacy was still a novelty. Their personal lives, too, had surprises. The detective's inquiries and the courtroom dramas laid bare their secrets and the intimate details of neighbourhood and family life. Drawing on these records, The Littlehampton Libels traces the tangles of devotion and resentment, desire and manipulation, in a working-class community. We are used to emotional complexity in books about the privileged, but history is seldom able to recover the inner lives of ordinary people in this way.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book Ludwig Boltzmann by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book Delay in the Performance of Contractual Obligations by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book Palliative Care by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book Praeterita by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book Going to the Palais by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book Financial Services Regulation in Practice by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of the Theory of International Law by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book The Education of Henry Adams by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book Antarctica: A Biography by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book Dramatic Geography by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book Mathematicians and their Gods by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book Redesigning Life by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book A Dictionary of Public Health by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book The History of King Lear: The Oxford Shakespeare by Christopher Hilliard
Cover of the book International Organizations under Pressure by Christopher Hilliard
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy