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The face of Britain’s criminal gangs is changing fast. The stereotypical ‘blagger’ is being replaced by a sprawling, undisciplined section of disadvantaged young men who have access to guns and are prepared to use them, sometimes for seemingly trivial reasons. In 2007, a series of brutal youth killings shocked the nation - 27 teenagers were murdered in London and 10-year-old Rhys Jones was gunned down in Liverpool. These slayings threw the issue into the media spotlight, proving that the consequences of gun and knife crime affect every community.
Yet despite the media attention, many unanswered questions remain. In an investigation that takes in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and other cities, One Blood will ask: Are youth gangs really becoming more violent? What makes someone join a gang? What does being in a gang involve? The author has secured access to dozens of people involved in the lifestyle, and every chapter will be based on first-hand testimonies of their day-to-day reality.
The book will also investigate how the authorities are attempting to combat the problem, and will analyse the social evils of which gang life is a symptom, not a cause. In doing so, One Blood will show the truth about gangs that lies behind the headlines. This explosive book will be an abiding portrait of an unfortunate section of British society, how it ended up this way, and what can be done to help it.
book reviews
- Daily Telegraph
“His investigation couldn't be more timely or urgent, though whether its findings will galvanise or merely depress its readers is another question.” - Times
“Heale's style is to weave sociological analysis with the first-hand testimonies of gang members in their own words. Thus the book's triumph is the authenticity that runs through every page, the sense that we are up close with the reality of gang life beyond the headlines - its casual violence, petty dramas and often mind-numbing banality.” - Evening Standard
"The question is, is this a good book. No. It's a brilliant book." - Independent
"One of the strengths of Heale's book is that it is carefully calculated not to be shocking. He talks to many gang members and former members, but is never voyeuristic. He scrupulously avoids what the academic Dominic White refers to as "the journey into the spectacle and carnival of crime". It is a welcome relief from the majority of journalistic coverage, which seems only interested in angelic victims and evil perpetrators" - Metro
"Heale never sensationalises, judges or empathises. Rather, he coolly and authoritatively exposes a social underclass which, having given up dreaming of something better, no longer much cares whether it lives or dies"
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