Crime was widespread in Victorian England, especially in London, where law enforcement was often disorganized and inadequate, and criminals had little to lose and much to gain by breaking the law. For many, life was already a cruel punishment. When alcoholism, anger, and despair were added to destitution, it was small wonder that more Victorians did not turn to crime.

Pickpockets and Resurrection Men

Every type of vice and violation occurred in nineteenth-century England, from relatively minor infractions such as vagrancy, disorderly conduct, and begging to serious offenses such as child abuse, drunkenness, gang attacks, and mass murder. Petty theft, burglary, purse snatching, and domestic abuse were common crimes, but so were extortion, counterfeiting, and embezzlement. Pickpockets practiced their art in broad daylight and were hard to deter since they were quick, cunning, and highly skilled. Many were children who eluded capture by slipping...