Essays | Stephen Basdeo

This page contains links to all essays written by Stephen Basdeo, a historian and lecturer based in Leeds, UK. Comments and feedback are always welcome and encouraged.

I have written on a variety of topics, much of which reflects this site’s evolution from one covering only crime history to covering an array of topics.

Bad Will Scarlet and the Good Sheriff: “Robin Hood: A Tale of the Olden Time” (1819) | Stephen Basdeo
The Fine Art of Murder
The Forest Rebel | Stephen Basdeo
George R. Stewart’s “Earth Abides” (1949) | Stephen Basdeo
G.W.M. Reynolds’s View of Military Service
The History of Novels | Stephen Basdeo
How Victorians Fell in Love with American Rebels
Jack London’s “The Scarlet Plague” (1912): Eugenics, Socialism, and a Deadly Pandemic | Stephen Basdeo
Mister Spectator’s Coffeehouse Club | Stephen Basdeo
A Leeds Folktale: “Poor Mary, the Maid of the Inn” | Stephen Basdeo
“Like a faint echo from the Middle Ages”: George Orwell’s Time among the Tramps | Stephen Basdeo
“The Life and Death of Jacke Straw” (1593)
M.P. Shiel’s “The Purple Cloud” (1901) | Stephen Basdeo
“Mysteries of the People” (1848): Eugene Sue’s Epic Socialist Novel | Stephen Basdeo
Eugene Sue’s Epic Socialist Novel “The Mysteries of the People” (1848): “The Iron Collar” and “The Silver Cross” | Stephen Basdeo
Pierce Egan the Younger (1814-1880): Biography of a Penny Dreadful Author | Stephen Basdeo
Ragnar’s Death Song | Stephen Basdeo
The Rise of Democracy: The Passage of the Reform Act (1867) | Stephen Basdeo
Rise of the Rogues
Robin Hood and his Crew of Soldiers (1660)
“The Truth and Nothing But the Truth”: Its first use in popular culture | Stephen Basdeo
The Urban Mysteries: Organised Crime in Victorian Popular Literature | Stephen Basdeo
When the Upper Classes Commit Crime: Eugene Aram (1704–59)