The criminal law has often been seen as central to the role of the eighteenth-century landed elite. This volume explores issues such as who used the law, for what purposes and with what effects. It then challenges the view that the law was primarily the instrument of small elite, portraying it instead as an arena of struggle and compromise.

`Review from previous edition This book is the long-anticipated culmination of many years' work, and it has been worth waiting... Overall, this book is a fine complement to John Beattie's study of London for the previous period (Policing and Punishment in London 1660-1750: Urban Crime and the Limits of Terror, OUP 2001), so that between them we have a comprehensive picture of crime and the law... from the Restoration to the early nineteenth century.' Peter Rushton, Punishment and Society `This thorough empirical study of the prosecution of property offences in the English courts will stand alongside the classic studies of the eighteenth /century/ history of crime by Beattie, Hay, Gatrell, Langbein, Linebaugh and Thompson... but one will never be able to read their works again unscathed by King's incisive commentary and powerful counter evidence... Criminologists seeking to gain new perspective on the meanings of crime and the social role of the criminal law will learn much from the extraordinarily vivid picture drawn by King of the workings of the eighteenth century criminal court.' British Journal of Criminology 41, 2001 `interesting, thoughtful, scholarly and well-written' History Today `Peter King has produced a stunning account of discretionary justice in the criminal process ... a wonderful blend of quantitative and qualitative analysis ... There is a library of first-rate studies of the criminal process in eighteenth century England. This book is among the very best of them ... I rank it along side John Beattie's (1986) magisterial award winning study, Crime and the Courts in England: 1660-1800, as one of the two best ... a stunning achievement.' Law and Politics Book Review `Peter King's Crime, Justice and Discretion in England 1740-1820 is on a par with the groundbreaking research of Thompson and his students ... every paragraph teems with evidence of King's mastery of the secondary sources, his painstaking archival research, and judicious consideration of the material he has assembled.' Clive Emsley, Reviews in History `This thorough empirical study of the prosecution of property offences in the English courts will stand alongside the classic studies of the eighteenth [century] history of crime by Beattie, Hay, Gatrell, Langbein, Linebaugh and Thompson... but one will never be able to read their works again unscathed by King's incisive commentary and powerful counter evidence... Criminologists seeking to gain new perspective on the meanings of crime and the social role of the criminal law will learn much from the extraordinarily vivid picture drawn by King of the workings of the eighteenth century criminal court.' British Journal of Criminology 41, 2001 `interesting, thoughtful, scholarly and well-written' History Today `Peter King has produced a stunning account of discretionary justice in the criminal process ... a wonderful blend of quantitative and qualitative analysis ... There is a library of first-rate studies of the criminal process in eighteenth century England. This book is among the very best of them ... I rank it along side John Beattie's (1986) magisterial award winning study, Crime and the Courts in England: 1660-1800, as one of the two best ... a stunning achievement.' Law and Politics Book Review `Peter King's Crime, Justice and Discretion in England 1740-1820 is on a par with the groundbreaking research of Thompson and his students ... every paragraph teems with evidence of King's mastery of the secondary sources, his painstaking archival research, and judicious consideration of the material he has assembled.' Clive Emsley, Reviews in History