Made famous by the hit TV series Peaky Blinders, the razor-wielding Shelby family have captured audiences but did they truly exist? Historian Carl Chinn uncovers the truth behind the notorious Birmingham gang, and discovers that one of the original Peaky Blinders was his great-grandfather.
Our latest pick took us into the history behind the hit TV series Peaky Blinders, where we learned that the glamour and grit of the fictional Shelby family, might not be exactly accurate.
Speaking of accurate, several of the group mentioned that the book needed proofreading, there were areas where information was repeated, and a spelling and grammar check would also have been useful.
While we appreciated the work that had gone into this, we were mainly left feeling that we had been reading someone’s university dissertation. It was obvious that the author had thoroughly searched local records and court cases, but the lists of gang names, fights, and violence felt dry and uninteresting.
Although the book gave an insight into Birmingham’s working class history, it did so in a dense and difficult to read style. One reader said that the book would have been better if it had been half the length but that they’d enjoyed some of it. Another commented that although it wasn’t riveting, they felt that they had learned from it.
The low literacy levels, poverty, brutality, and community tension which seemed to cause much of the fighting, led us to discuss how much things had changed. We also wondered whether the hooliganism was inevitable, and if the disproportionate community representation in the police force (more Irish police officers than Irish citizens) affected this.
One large discrepancy between the series and the reality seemed to be that the Peaky Blinders did not have razorblades in their baker boy style hats (the disposable razor hadn’t been invented yet), and didn’t wear smart suits. Instead they had bowler hats drawn over one eye, and wore bell bottoms – which probably wouldn’t have made such good television. Nor would the fact that the TV series is set just after World War I, when the real gangs of Sloggers were around in the 1880s. That said, we felt that the inclusion of photographs was good, as it enabled us to look at the people involved. While some characters in the TV series are based on real people, they generally didn’t look anything like their TV personas.
We gave this month’s read a rather lowly 2/5
Next month’s read is Notes on an Execution by Daniel Kukafka.
Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. This isn’t his story.
He doesn’t want to die – he wants to be celebrated. Now he faces the fate he forced on others.
This is the story of the women who survive.
As the hours pass, a mother, a sister, and a detective reflect on the decisions that led to the tragedy, the lives affected, and the chance of finding redemption
Pick up your copy from the Library in GETEC now.
Come and join our next meeting on Teams at 12.30-1.00pm, on Tuesday 7th April.
Find out more about our reading groups here or take a look at some of our previous book reviews.
We look forward to seeing you!