Sheffield's Most Notorious Gangs

Ben W. Johnson

• Publisher: Pen & Sword History
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN:
  9781526702982
• Print ISBN:
  9781526702968
• Subtopic: Modern British History

British veterans of the Great War turn to organized crime in this history of rival street gangs and their reign of terror in the 1920's.
When the returning heroes of the First World War were forgotten by their country, they had no choice but to fight again, this time for their own survival. Reduced to motley neighborhood regiments, they traded their rifles for razors and butcher's knives. The enemy was society at large—and the police force paid to protect it.
Money would be made, blood would be shed, and lives would be lost. Sheffield was a city at war with itself, as opposing gangs battled daily for control of the streets. Out of these deadly gangs, two rival factions took control of the city. For a dark and dangerous time, The Mooney Gang and the Park Brigade even acted as governing bodies in many of the poorer neighborhoods. In Sheffield's Most Notorious Gangs, true crime historian Ben W. Johnson explores their rise to power, and the rising tide of violence that authorities seemed powerless to stop.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Prologue The Guns Fell Silent
• Introduction The Historic Gangs of Sheffield
• Chapter 1: Mooney and the Sky-Ring
• Chapter 2: Garvin’s Army
• Chapter 3: The Shift of Power
• Chapter 4: Sheffield under Siege
• Chapter 5: The Mail and the Mayhem
• Chapter 6: The Charge of the Park Brigade
• Chapter 7: Rebuilding Bedlam
• Chapter 8: The Fall of a Mighty Oak
• Chapter 9: The Threat of the Black Cap
• Chapter 10: Truth, Half-Truths, and Lies
• Chapter 11: Fighting Fire with Fire
• Chapter 12: The Captain Cometh
• Chapter 13: Where There is Life
• Chapter 14: Two Days, Two Brothers
• Chapter 15: The Storm before the Calm
• Postscript Heroes and Hooligans
• Plate section