David J. Cox is currently a Senior Lecturer at Wolverhampton University, specialising in Criminal Justice History and Policing History. Previously, David has worked at Keele and Plymouth Universities as a Research Associate/Fellow as well as being the former Editor of The Blackcountryman, the quarterly journal of the Black Country Society. He gained a PhD in Modern History from Lancaster University in 2006.

'For readers interested in the historical context of English criminal history, Cox is the source to go to...an engaging exploration into the contextualization of criminal sources'— M. A. Riebe, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Choice Reviews

• 1. Introduction  2. The impact of historical developments on the criminal justice system  3. Crime, 'traditional' and 'new'  4. Capturing the criminal  5. Punishment  6. Gender and the criminal justice system  7. Crime in contemporary literature and culture  8. Review and conclusion: beyond the eighteenth century  Appendix: Timeline of events 1649-1815.

David J. Cox is currently a Senior Lecturer at Wolverhampton University, specialising in Criminal Justice History and Policing History. Previously, David has worked at Keele and Plymouth Universities as a Research Associate/Fellow as well as being the former Editor of The Blackcountryman, the quarterly journal of the Black Country Society. He gained a PhD in Modern History from Lancaster University in 2006.

'For readers interested in the historical context of English criminal history, Cox is the source to go to...an engaging exploration into the contextualization of criminal sources'— M. A. Riebe, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Choice Reviews

• 1. Introduction  2. The impact of historical developments on the criminal justice system  3. Crime, 'traditional' and 'new'  4. Capturing the criminal  5. Punishment  6. Gender and the criminal justice system  7. Crime in contemporary literature and culture  8. Review and conclusion: beyond the eighteenth century  Appendix: Timeline of events 1649-1815.

David J. Cox is currently a Senior Lecturer at Wolverhampton University, specialising in Criminal Justice History and Policing History. Previously, David has worked at Keele and Plymouth Universities as a Research Associate/Fellow as well as being the former Editor of The Blackcountryman, the quarterly journal of the Black Country Society. He gained a PhD in Modern History from Lancaster University in 2006.

'For readers interested in the historical context of English criminal history, Cox is the source to go to...an engaging exploration into the contextualization of criminal sources'— M. A. Riebe, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Choice Reviews

• 1. Introduction  2. The impact of historical developments on the criminal justice system  3. Crime, 'traditional' and 'new'  4. Capturing the criminal  5. Punishment  6. Gender and the criminal justice system  7. Crime in contemporary literature and culture  8. Review and conclusion: beyond the eighteenth century  Appendix: Timeline of events 1649-1815.