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'By a Flash and a Scare' illuminates the darker side of rural life in the nineteenth century. Flashpoints such as the Swing Riots have long attracted the attention of historians, but here John E. Archer focuses on the persistent war waged in the countryside, analysing the prevailing climate of unrest, discontent, and desperation.

In this detailed and scholarly study, based on intensive research among the local records of Norfolk and Suffolk, Dr Archer identifies and examines the three most serious crimes of protest in the countryside — arson, animal maiming, and poaching. He shows how rural society in East Anglia was shaped by terror and oppression in equal measure. Crime and protest were an integral part of the ordinary life of the rural poor. 'By a Flash and a Scare' dispels any lingering notions of a 'green and pleasant land', and makes an important contribution to our understanding of life in the nineteenth century countryside.

Contents

PREFACE

MAPS

ABBREVIATIONS

1. An Introduction to Rural Protest

The Categorization of Rural Crime

Crime in the Countryside

2. The Farm Labourer: Work and Wages

3. The Labouring Community and the Relief of Poverty: 'A Class Which Has Something to Lose'

4. Incendiarism: Annual Survey 1815-1834

Introduction

Incendiarism: A New Expression of Grievance

Annual Summary — 1815-1819

The 1820s

The Swing Years 1830-1833

5. Incendiarism: Annual Survey 1835-1870

1835-1841: The Introduction of the New Poor Law

The 1840s

The Mid-century Depression 1849-1852

The Era of High Farming 1853-1870

6. Incendiarism: An Analysis

The Location and Timing of Incendiary Attacks

Prices, Wages, and Unemployment

Mechanization and Incendiarism

Incendiarism and the Poor Laws

Incendiarism and Rural Crime

Victims of Incendiarism

Protection and Detection

Why Incendiarism?

7. The Myth and Reality of the Incendiary

Introduction

The Myth

The Reality

8. Animal Maiming: 'A Fiendish Outrage'?

9. The Poaching War: 'The Great Attraction'

Introduction

The Poacher

Policing and Detection

Protest and Poaching

10. Conclusion

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PLACE INDEX

SUBJECT INDEX