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Author: Donald Thomas
ISBN No:
Review date: 26/06/2026
No of pages: 0
Publisher: John Murray, Hodder Headline
Year of publication: 11/09/2012
Brief:
The mushrooming degree courses covering security managment lack a historical dimension, which is a pity. From the November 2006 print issue.
We got to where we are, from somewhere. Donald Thomas’ fascinating book Villains’ Paradise covers Britain’s criminal ‘underworld’ from 1945 to 1970, following histories of the Victorian and Second World War underworld. In some ways, it is history – the failed diamond robbery at the Millennium Dome, as Thomas says in the final chapter, was almost nostalgic – ‘No one does that any more’. But what’s striking is that crimes of today – illegal drugs and people trafficking, armed robberies of cash in transit vehicles, and corrupt coppers – all date back to the 1950s and ‘60s. The chapter ‘Cosh and Carry’ for instance looks at CIT robberies. What do you make of the 1962 case when a CIT officer, armed with a handgun, shot back? The difference since 1970, Thomas notes, is that police detection rates have ‘collapsed’. If you have never head of policemen such as Robert Mark, this book is truly history, though the many vivid fraud and other crime stories will be gripping reading. If you do recall the ‘good old days’, this book will be even more thought-provoking.
Was post-war Britain a villains’ paradise? Britain in the forties and fifties is often recalled as a golden age. Now a new book by Cardiff University’s Prof Donald Thomas chronicles an underworld of escalating crime from 1945-1970.
At the launch of ‘Villains’ Paradise’ in the University’s Arts and Social Studies Library, Prof Thomas, Personal Chair in the School of English, Communication and Philosophy, donated a selection of his personal archive of research papers, used in writing his series of acclaimed books on the Underworld in Victorian and WWII eras to the University’s Special Collections and Archives.
In his book, Prof Thomas reveals that amongst the ex-servicemen and deserters (nearly 20,000) returning to Britain many had acquired skills and weapons that made turning to crime an easy option. At a time when Britain’s exports had nose-dived and the country was still suffering acute rationing, anxiety about armed robberies and psychopaths spread. The criminal of the future was prototyped by Ronnie Briggs and the Great Train Robbery, and Britain became the world leader in one thing – safe cracking.
Among the incidents in Wales, revealed in the book:
War surplus looting: Two South Wales entrepreneurs and the Royal Ordnance Depot at Barry were the means of robbing the Ministry of Supply of a fortune in ex-US Army consumer goods from the ministry’s base in Worcestershire. As one soldier admitted, everyone on the camp was "at it"
Coupon Robbery: The biggest petrol coupon robbery of the 1940s took place at the Petroleum Board offices in Churchill Way, Cardiff. Coupons for 750,000 gallons of petrol were stolen during the night of 9-10 November 1947.
The Sporting Underworld: A Cardiff bookmaker, Gomer Charles and a Rhondda scrap-metal dealer were principal figures in the Bath "Francasal" race-course swindle of 1953. Horses were switched at the last moment and Santa Amaro impersonated its sluggish stable mate winning easily.
