Conflict and Order

Focusing on the stormy period from 1900 to 1939--a time that witnessed the Tonypandy riots, "Black Friday," and the general strike--Jane Morgan examines the role of the police in labor disputes in England and Wales. After briefly surveying these riots and strikes, she discusses the increase in Home Office influence over the provincial police until 1918; the position of police in the anti-strike apparatus of government from 1918 to 1922; the use of the armed services during the general strike; and the decline in police accountability towards local authorities.