- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Pocket Books (6 July 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1847392814
- ISBN-13: 978-1847392817
- Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 2.4 x 19.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 145,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
One Blood
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Product Description
Review
`He talks to many gang members and former members, but is never voyeuristic. It is a welcome relief from the majority of journalistic coverage, which seems only interested in angelic victims and evil perpetrators' --Independent
`Heale offers a powerful critique of the various, either enforcement-driven, or pathology-informed, policy alternatives, periodically reminding the reader of the need to understand the socio-economic production of gangland before trying to grasp the ways in which people have come to live their lives there' --TLS
`Heale offers a powerful critique of the various, either enforcement-driven, or pathology-informed, policy alternatives, periodically reminding the reader of the need to understand the socio-economic production of gangland before trying to grasp the ways in which people have come to live their lives there' --TLS
Product Description
In 2008, the UK saw over 70 brutal killings of teenagers by teenagers. Knife crime --and now gun crime -- affects every community, and Britains' gangs have changed in recent years, becoming more aggressive, more territorial -- and younger. One Blood is the first full-length study of Britain's new gang culture. The author has talked to dozens of gang members from high-ranking to low, and every chapter is based on first-hand testimonies of their day-to-day reality, laying the groundwork for a comprehensive analysis of what gang life does to society and to individuals. With a strong narrative that travels the country from London to Liverpool and beyond, One Blood provides a terrifying account of what life is like for those who belong to a gang. It also investigates how the authorities are attempting to combat the problem, and analyses the social evils of which gang life is a symptom, not a cause. Fearless, uncompromising and compulsively readable, this explosive book is an abiding portrait of an unfortunate section of British society, how it ended up this way, and what can be done to help it.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a fantastically well-written insight in to Britain's gangs. Heale has conducted some fascinating (and frankly extremely brave) interviews with those figures at the heart of gang culture. This could have been written simply as a chapter-by-chapter account of these interviews, but Heale's novelistic style makes this a truly gripping, and at times traumatic, read. One Blood could also have sensationalised Britain's gangs, but it provides a very real, intelligent and mature account of gang life and an intriguing analysis of the problems associated with it. Indeed, it is often the casual and arbitrary nature of violence in this chaotic world that will shock the reader most of all.
Having finished the book, your perceptions of gang culture and the solutions to its problems will be turned on their head. Society appears to be misinterpreting the very nature of 'gangs' and until we understand that it is often the chaos, rather than order, of gang life that is feeding violence, the situation can only get worse. Heale has the courage to offer solutions but I suspect that his greatest contribution will be to bring greater awareness and understanding of this anarchic world.
Heale is a very talented writer and as a work of non-fiction alone this would have been a staggeringly good read. That it is non-fiction makes One Blood an extremely important book on a subject that has become one of the biggest issues in Britain today.
Having finished the book, your perceptions of gang culture and the solutions to its problems will be turned on their head. Society appears to be misinterpreting the very nature of 'gangs' and until we understand that it is often the chaos, rather than order, of gang life that is feeding violence, the situation can only get worse. Heale has the courage to offer solutions but I suspect that his greatest contribution will be to bring greater awareness and understanding of this anarchic world.
Heale is a very talented writer and as a work of non-fiction alone this would have been a staggeringly good read. That it is non-fiction makes One Blood an extremely important book on a subject that has become one of the biggest issues in Britain today.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First a warning: it's a slow-burning book. Don't read it if you want constant thrills and spills. Agree with commentators who say at times it reads a too much like a sociology essay. But as the author says in the intro - that's the point, because gangs coverage in the media at the time was hysterical.
So much of what he says turns out to be prescient. If you follow his thesis through and look at what happened in inner cities in 2011 it stacks up: in one section he all but predicts the riots. If you want to understand the true nature of gangs, this is an excellent place to start.
So much of what he says turns out to be prescient. If you follow his thesis through and look at what happened in inner cities in 2011 it stacks up: in one section he all but predicts the riots. If you want to understand the true nature of gangs, this is an excellent place to start.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very good book. Its strength lies in Heale's refusal to judge or dehumanise the people he interviews and studies. Yet nor is he a glamouriser or apologist for the gangster lifestyle. He is engaged, empathetic, humane and balanced. Reading this book reminded me of watching The Wire. Most importantly, Heale persuasively argues that the gang phenomenon is the societal consequence of the appalling polarisation of wealth and opportunity that began in Britain in the 1980s and has continued - in fact, accelerated - ever since. That's what politicians and policy-makers don't want to hear. No wonder Tony Blair crassly blames it all on the black community. But the real culprits, Heale argues, are poverty and disadvantage. In cities where the poorest people happen to be white, so are the gangs. My only criticism is that Heale's prose can be a little flat and humdrum, but he might argue that it fits his anti-sensationalist tone. Highly recommended, nevertheless.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Worrying, fascinating, honest! Buy it!
I bought this book on a bit of a whim since I didn't know much about the gang problems in our country, and I am so glad I did. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Jen
Lacking structure
Having read the back of this book I had high expectations of really enjoying the subject matter being explored. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2009 by B. Fozard
Opportunity Missed
This could have been a dazzling, grab-readers by the throat and force mainstream society to face hard realities to bring about real change, sort of a book. Read more
Published on 24 Sep 2008 by Daniel Bishop
Outstanding - a very important book
This is the first modern commentary I've read on gangs and gang culture which refuses to slip into the hand-wringing clichés of race, absentee fathers or video game... Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2008 by D. Lloyd
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