A Fiery & Furious People

[A] compendious, fine-grained … magisterial book … The outlaw’s song has surely never been better rendered. * Times Literary Supplement *
A deeply thoughtful and thought-provoking examination of violence in England from the Middle Ages through to the present day … genuinely hard to put down. * BBC History Magazine *
The richness of this wonderful book is testament to nearly 50 years spent working on the history of violence … a fascinating and rare example of a beautifully crafted scholarly work. * Times Higher Education *
Entertaining and instructive. – Books of the Year * The Times *
Deeply researched, thoughtfully considered and vividly written … Read it. * History Today *
A Fiery & Furious People is often a sobering read … Sharpe’s empirically grounded argument is a powerful and persuasive one. * Literary Review *
Fascinating … James Sharpe draws on court records, verbatim accounts and bloodcurdling contemporary records to chronicle the changing aspects of brutality through the ages. * Daily Mail *
A history of violence in England, from the Middle Ages onwards, this looks back to a time when violence was part of everyday life and asks what’s changed and why. – Books of the Year * Sunday Telegraph *
Brings the subject memorably to life – Book of the Week * The Week *
A vivid survey of our enthusiasm for violence … For a survey of violence, its pages overflowing with duelling, hooliganism, domestic abuse and even serial killing, Sharpe’s book is actually quite a cheering read. … The strength of Sharpe’s book lies in its anecdotes, with almost every page containing an arresting or colourful detail. – Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *

James Sharpe was Professor of History at the University of York from 1997 until his retirement in 2016. He is a leading social historian, with a particular interest in the history of crime. He has published widely on the subject and is a committee member of the International Association for the History of Crime and Criminal Justice. His books include Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in England 1550-1750 (1996) and Dick Turpin: the Myth of the English Highwayman (2004).

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