Today, branches of chains such as William Hill and Ladbrokes are familiarights in high streets across Britain, and betting takes place on all sortsf events - from horse-racing to general elections, from football-matchesults to the likelihood of snow falling on Christmas Day. Yet until 1961treet bookmakers were illegal, and old prejudices are slow to fade away. Atigma is still attached to bookmaking, and for many people bookmakers remain disreputable and shady lot. This book sets out to examine why this is thease. Social historian Carl Chinn was himself a bookmaker, like his fathernd grandfather before him, and therefore brings his own unique perspectiveo this lively and highly readable account of the profession's history, fromts origins among the sharpsters who hoodwinked punters at racecourses, tohe illegal street bookies who offered the working class a tantalising escaperom poverty, to the growth of leisure empires such as Coral and William Hillost-legalisation, to gambling on the internet and betting on 'virtual' horseaces.

This book gives the fullest account so far of the origins, success and public impact of Walter Greenwood's Love on the Dole in all three of its versions: novel (1933), play (1935) and film (1941).

An Unsafe Bet? The Dangerous Rise of Gambling and the Debate We Should Be Having reveals how gambling represents a danger to public health due to its inherent addiction potential, which is being intentionally downplayed by the gambling industry and governments. Lays bare the extent of gambling and its effects on society Exposes the dilemma for policy makers, who are charged with protecting public health but also increasingly dependent on revenues earned from gambling Written by Jim Orford, an internationally respected authority on the topic International examples broaden the argument and reveal the global stakes involved

Vice and the Victorians explores the ways the Victorian world gave meanings to the word 'vice', and the role this complex notion played in shaping society. Mike Huggins provides a richer and more nuanced understanding of a term that, despite its vital importance to the Victorians, has thus far lacked a clear definition. Each chapter explores a different facet of vice. Firstly, the book seeks to define exactly what vice meant to the Victorians, exploring how the language of vice was used as a tool to beat down opposition and dissent. It considers the cultural geography and spatial dimensions of vice in the public and private spheres, before moving on to look at specific vices: the unholy trinity of drink, sex and gambling. Finally, it shifts from vice to virtue and the efforts of moral reformers, and reassesses the relationship between vice and respectability in Victorian life. In his lively and engaging discussion, Mike Huggins draws on a range of theory and exploits a wide variety of texts and representations from the periodical press, parliamentary reports and Acts, novels, obscene publications, paintings and posters, newspapers, sermons, pamphlets and investigative works. This will be an illuminating text for undergraduates studying Victorian Britain as well as anyone wishing to gain a more nuanced understanding of Victorian society.

This book is a study of the British casino industry and how it has been shaped by criminality, prohibition, regulation and liberalization since the beginning of the First World War. The reader will gain a detailed knowledge of the history, culture, identity and participants within the British casino industry, which has, to date, escaped the attention of a dedicated historical and criminological investigation. This monograph fills this gap in inquiry while drawing on primary source material that has not been used previously, including, but not confined to, records in the National Archives relating to the Gaming Board of Great Britain and the Metropolitan Police. In addition to archive material, oral histories, newspapers, published journals and books have been utilised and referenced where appropriate. Envisaged to close a gap in historical research, this book will be of interest to historians, criminologists, regulators, students and individuals interested in gambling, society and cultural history.

2001 North American Society for Sports History Book of the Year This volume studies the formative period of racing between 1790 and 1914. This was a time when, despite the opposition of a respectable minority, attendance at horse races, betting on horses, or reading about racing increasingly became central leisure activities of much of British society.

This fascinating and extensive study, enlivened by interviews with British and American gamblers, will be enthralling reading not just for those interested in the cultural and social implications of gambling - researchers in sociology, cultural studies and the history of ideas - but for anyone interested in how we create meaning in an increasingly insecure world.