Civil disorder, violent crime and terrorism were all considerably worse during the Victorian period than they are today, though ironically many regard this era of British history as a being a by-word for stability and order. Simon Webb reveals the disorder and violent crime endemic in Victorian Britain; a time when the citizens faced problems eerily similar to those with which we have to contend today. Whether a rise in armed robberies and muggings; debates about the arming of the police; bag searches due to fears about terrorists planting bombs in museums and railway stations; or anxiety about the rioting on the streets of our cities; our Victorian ancestors faced precisely the same difficulties well over a century ago. Attacks on Police Officers: Between 2003 and 2013 not a single Metropolitan police officer was murdered, yet during a typical decade in the Victorian period, 1860 to 1870, nine officers were shot, stabbed or beaten to death in London. Victorian Gun Crime: So prevalent was the use of guns by criminals in Victorian Britain, that officers were routinely armed. The sight of a police constable with a revolver at his hip was a common one during the 1880s and 1890s. Terrorism: Bombs had exploded on the London Underground in 1883 and 1885, and the first death in a tube bombing occurred in 1897.
