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Public fears of widespread venereal disease led in 1913 to the appointment of The Royal Commission on Venereal Diseases (RCVD). In 1916 its Final Report offered only a single cautious and somewhat imprecise summary statement about the likely prevalence of venereal diseases in England and Wales. Although the significance of contemporary attitudes to venereal disease has attracted a good deal of historiographic attention, no historian or demographer has since investigated this aspect of the Royal Commission's work. This article critically re-examines the most important quantitative evidence presented to the Royal Commission relating to the years immediately prior to the First World War. It utilises this evidence to produce new estimates of the probable prevalence of syphilis among adult males, both nationally and among certain geographical divisions and social groups in the national population; and also to offer a comment on the likely prevalence of gonorrhoea. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the extent to which post-war concerns about Englishness and fears about ‘the enemy within’ shaped understandings of the ‘racecourse wars’ of the 1920s. These conflicts involved mainly metropolitan criminals in various affrays and fights on the streets of London, and on the racecourses of South-East England. The press coverage of the events has been described as akin to a ‘moral panic’ and certainly they provided serious headline fodder during the peaks of 1922 and 1925. Moreover, the key personnel of these ‘wars’, arguably dramatically overwritten by the press, have become signposts in the chronology of twentieth-century British organized crime. This article will draw upon newspaper reports, police autobiography, trial reports, Metropolitan Police records and correspondence with the army to explore concerns about the nature and prevalence of gang crime and forms of inter-personal violence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a roundtable discussion sponsored by the journal on the study of 20th century British history in Western Europe. The article features scholars from France and Germany including Martina Steber of the German Historical Institute in London, England, Antoine Capet of the Université de Rouen, and Laura Lee Downs of the Ecole des Hautes en Sciences Sociales.

The article discusses moral and sexual changes in Great Britain in the post-World War II era, examining the notion of a permissive society. It explores the influence of the state and the press and comments on the role of London, England in these transformations. The author also reflects on sexual scandals, particularly noting an affair between British war minister John Profumo and Christine Keeler, the supposed mistress of a Russian spy. An inquiry into sexual reform led by John Frederick Wolfenden, Baron Wolfenden, also known as Lord Wolfenden, is also considered.

The article presents information about socialist Ellen Wilkinson, Great Britain's Minister of Education between 1945 and 1947, and states that her work in this role was somewhat ineffective, including her push for equal opportunity for all children. Reasons for this include her own successful background affecting her views, the Ministry retaining control over Wilkinson's actions, and that the Labour party was not clear about its own position on educational issues.