Peaky Blinders

Carl Chinn's book investigates the backstreet gangs of Birmingham, separating myth from evidence by using court records, newspapers and oral testimony.

It traces the rise of 'sloggers' and Peaky Blinders in the late 19th century, their social context of poverty and poor housing, and their decline by the First World War. Chinn also examines how fashions and names developed and how popular myths—like razor blades in caps—arose.

The book situates gang violence within politics, race, and policing in industrial Britain, and follows some members into later organised racecourse crime.

It is both a local history and a corrective to romanticised portrayals of the Peaky Blinders.