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Stylish and dark, the BBC series the 'Peaky Blinders' is set in the backstreets of Birmingham after the First World War and tells of the rise to power of Thomas Shelby and his criminal gang. Yet the real stories behind these fictional characters are just as dramatic, bloody and compelling as the TV series. Thomas Shelby's arch enemy Billy Kimber was in real life a Brummie from Summer Lane. He was a feared fighter with an astute mind and magnetic personality which earned him the leadership of the Birmingham Gang that dominated the highly profitable protection rackets of the racecourses of England. The members of this gang had once been 'sloggers' or 'peaky blinders' and their rise to supremacy was attributable to their viciousness and to Kimber's shrewd alliances with other gangs. But they soon incurred the envy of the Sabini Gang of London who fought violently to oust Kimber and his men and take over their rackets. The Birmingham Gang battled back fiercely in the infamous and blood-stained racecourse wars of the 1920s. This Birmingham Gang led by Billy Kimber were the Real Peaky Blinders and this is their story.
"This bibliography is an important contribution to the democratisation of Birmingham's history. It brings together the knowledge and expertise of nineteen historians and other experts, each of whom gives an overview of a major topic and a list of essential sources or a guide to collections of source materials. Together they open up the city's past to researchers of all kinds." -- BACK COVER.
Dr Carl Chinn MBE is well known as an academic, broadcaster and author. A passionate Brummie, he is Community Historian at The University of Birmingham, a regular columnist for The Birmingham Evening Mail, and a presenter of his own local history radio show from BBC Pebble Mill. He is also the author of many books on Birmingham's history. Meticulously researched, Brum and Brummies 3 includes extracts from the many accounts sent to Carl by men and women who remember the Birmingham of yesteryear. This third fully illustrated volume on the people and places of old Birmingham will reawaken many memories. The book is dedicated, in the author's words, to all Brummies proud of our city and proud of our forebears.
This new, factually rich and visually stunning publication is the first major history of Birmingham for more than four decades.
Was there an oak in Selly Oak? How is Smallbrook Street connected to a vicious family feud? Where is Spiceal Street and why is it important? Who was Tinker Fox and what connection is there between the Adderleys and Saltley? How are the city's Civil War connections reflected in its names? This book looks at scores of street names of Birmingham.
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Cari Chinn reviews the chequered history of the giant Longbridge works with the help of journalist Stephen Dyson who covered the story of BMW's disposal of Rover.