Vlad Solomon, "State Surveillance, Political Policing and Counter-Terrorism in Britain, 1880-1914" (Boydell Press, 2021)
In 1850 Charles Dickens wrote that Great Britain had \u201cno political police,\u201d adding that \u201cthe most rabid demagogue\u201d could speak out \u201cwithout the terror of an organised spy system.\u201d In his book\xa0State Surveillance, Political Policing, and Counter-Terrorism in Britain: 1880-1914\xa0(Boydell Press, 2021), Vlad Solomon describes how Britain gradually developed a system of \u201chigh policing\u201d during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras that contradicted Britons\u2019 popular belief in their tolerant society. As Solomon demonstrates, contrary to Dickens\u2019s blithe assurance, Britain had irregularly employed political policing prior to the 1880s. The threat posed by Fenian terrorism, however, compelled the British home secretary, William Harcourt, to create a specialized section of the London Metropolitan Police in response. This evolved into Special Branch, which subsequently found its remit expanded to include monitoring political radicals, aliens, and even militant suffragists. Yet despite their increased range of duties, the number of detectives assigned to such tasks remained limited until espionage concerns and the prospect of war prompted the government to overhaul political policing with the creation of a new agency \u2013 the future MI5 \u2013 in order to provide more effective monitoring of the political threats facing the country.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law