Mayhem: Post-War Crime and Violence in Britain 1748–53 (2013) by historian Nicholas Rogers examines the social upheaval that followed Britain’s demobilization after the War of Austrian Succession. The return of 80,000 soldiers—many injured, unemployed, and unpaid—triggered a crime wave, fueled class tensions, and bolstered Jacobite political unrest. With no formal police force, enforcement fell to local watchmen, while sensationalist newspapers amplified elite fears. The period also saw moral panic over gin consumption, religious interpretations of a spate of earthquakes, and proposals like Henry Fielding’s call for stricter class controls. A partial solution came in land grants for veterans in Nova Scotia, intended both to defend against the French and bolster the colony’s white population, though many settlers abandoned the effort. Rogers blends crime history, imperial politics, and social commentary to portray one of Britain’s most turbulent peacetime eras.
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