Encompassing the crimes of the never-identified Jack the Ripper, as well as many other equally intriguing criminals, "Hooligans, Harlots, and Hangmen: Crime and Punishment in Victorian Britain" is a detailed study of the criminal justice system as it evolved from the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837 to the outbreak of the "Great War" in 1914.

The first section of the book considers crimes and criminals, while the second looks at the ways in which the Victorians sought to explain this deviant behavior. The third section focuses on the creation of criminals through the work of the...