Vagrancy in the Victorian Age

Alistair Robinson is an Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London.

• Introduction; Part I. The Country; 1. Gypsies, Hawkers and Handicraft Tramps; 2. Poachers; Part II. The City; 3. Casual Paupers; 4. Loafers; Part III. The Frontier; 5. Paupers, Vagabonds and American Indians; 6. Beachcombers; Afterword: London 1902.

'… the first notable scholarly work to concentrate exclusively upon nineteenth-century representations of vagrancy - and as such is a highly welcome addition to the wider domain of vagrancy studies, which has so far generally failed to cover this area in detail … as well as offering a wide-ranging and clear account of some of the defining transitions in nineteenth-century attitudes towards vagrancy, alongside a nuanced analysis of how different authors responded to the figure of the vagrant, Vagrancy in the Victorian Age convincingly captures a sense of how attitudes towards vagrancy converged around adjacent prejudicial and subjugatory discourses, while simultaneously providing an opportunity for radical counter-trends to flourish.' Luke Lewin Davies, Journal of Victorian Culture Online