Title Playboys and Mayfair men : crime, class, masculinity, and fascism in 1930s London / Angus McLaren

Published Baltimore, Maryland : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017

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Description 1 online resource (viii, 264 pages) : illustrations Contents Part 1. The Crime. The robbery ; The investigation ; The suspects ; The trial ; The aftermath -- Part 2. The Context. Pain ; Masculinity ; Crime ; Class ; Fascism ; Epilogue Summary "In December 1937, four respectable young men in their twenties, all products of elite English public schools, conspired to lure to the luxurious Hyde Park Hotel a representative of Cartier, the renowned jewelry firm. There, the "Mayfair men" brutally bludgeoned diamond salesman Etienne Bellenger and made off with eight rings that today would be worth approximately half a million pounds. Such well-connected young people were not supposed to appear in the prisoner's dock at the Old Bailey. Not surprisingly, the popular newspapers had a field day responding to the public's insatiable appetite for news about the upper-crust rowdies and their unsavory pasts. In Playboys and Mayfair Men, Angus McLaren recounts the violent robbery and sensational trial that followed. He uses the case as a hook to draw the reader into a revelatory exploration of key interwar social issues, from masculinity and cultural decadence to broader anxieties about moral decay. In his gripping depiction of Mayfair's celebrity high life, McLaren describes the crime in detail, as well as the police investigation, the suspects, their trial, and the aftermath of their convictions."--Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-254) and index Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (ProQuest Ebook Central, viewed October 26, 2017) Subject Robbery -- England -- London -- Case studies Violent crimes -- England -- London -- Case studies Criminals -- England -- London -- Case studies Social classes -- England -- London -- History -- 20th century SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Criminology. Criminals Robbery Social classes Social conditions Violent crimes SUBJECT London (England) -- Social conditions -- 20th century Subject England -- London Genre/Form Case studies History Form Electronic book ISBN 9781421423487 1421423480

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