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Apologies for cross posting The British Police: Forces and Chief Officers 1829-2000 by Martin Stallion and David Wall (1999) Police History Society ISBN 0- 9512538-4-0 £15 For many years a major hurdle for the police historian has been to actually locate the names of the many independent police forces that have existed since the ‘new’ police legislation was introduced in Britain during the early 19th Century. Furthermore, police historians have also been continually frustrated by the lack of information about the men, and until 1995 they were all men, who were chief officers of the forces. Such information is important, particularly before the Second World War, because policing was not only very localised, but its practice also tended to be shaped by those same individuals. Drawing upon painstakingly conducted research, this book firstly contains some short essays which discuss the development of the British police since 1829 and also some of the problems that are associated with conducting historical research into the British police forces. Secondly, it then lists each of the independent police forces that are known to have existed in Britain since the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 (see sample entry overleaf). Not only does it give important information about each force, but it also lists the chief officers of those forces from their inception, and in many cases, to their demise. Thirdly, to further assist the researcher the book also contains an alphabetical index of chief officers. Fourthly, a bibliography of British police force histories is included for those researchers who wish to further explore police history. This book will fill an important gap in the literature on police history and provide a reference point for existing and future historians of the police. Please send cheque for £15 (inc. P&P), payable to the "Police History Society", to The British Police, 68 High Garrett, Braintree, Essex. CM7 5NT. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%