This Rash Act: Suicide Across the Life Cycle in the Victorian City
“Bailey’s growing reputation rests upon in-depth research, forensic skill, and an enviable ability to present his findings in a cogent and engaging manner. . . . This is a brilliant, balanced, and original study that enlarges our understanding of the sociology of suicide and adds enormously to the historical study of self-destruction. It is a magnificent achievement.”—English Historical Review\ “This is a splendid book: in many ways it is a model for how a sophisticated social history might...
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What made some 700 men and women in the Yorkshire town of Kingston-upon-Hull in the years 1837 to 1900 take their lives? This book attempts to answer this question and also to study how suicide was understood by victims, families, and friends; how the causes of suicide changed over time; and what coroners’ inquests can tell us about Victorian life, beliefs, and values in general.
List of TablesList of FiguresIntroduction1Pt. ISuicide and the Social Historian1Durkheim and Beyond15Pt. IIInterpreting the Coroners' Inquest2"Crowner's Quest Law"373Suicide Verdicts60Pt. IIIThe Urban Life Cycle4The Urban Life Cycle in Victorian England855Kingston upon Hull: Economy, Society, Ecology101Pt. IVStatistics6The Incidence of Suicide125Pt. VSuicide Across the Life Cycle7Early-Life Transitions1658The Prime of Life1869Early Old Age21110Late Old Age236EpilogueDurkheim Redivivus253Notes269Bibliography325Index345
