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The epic Peaky Blinders series has thrilled viewers across the world with its mesmerising, dark storylines about Birmingham's most notorious gangsters.

We are about to embark on series five - expected to be aired in August 2019 - with the world premiere taking place in Birmingham on July 18.

The series 4 finale saw Tommy Shelby becoming even more powerful as the elected MP of the Birmingham South constituency.

We talk to historian Carl Chinn about the real story behind fictional bad lad Thomas Shelby and his criminal gang. And he says it echoes a truth that is just as dramatic, bloody and compelling as the BBC plot.

“With its captivating cinematography, charismatic performances, and dramatic title, the BBC Peaky Blinders series seized the attention of viewers and critics alike in the autumn of 2013,” writes Carl, who began researching these notorious Birmingham gangs back in the 1980s.

“Stylish yet dark, it was set in the back streets of Birmingham after the First World War and told of the rise to power of Tommy Shelby and his criminal gang of Peaky Blinders."



He added: “Fashionably dressed, they were named after the weapon they used in fights: the peaks of their flat caps into which had been sewn safety razors and which were slashed across the foreheads of their opponents, causing blood to pour down into their eyes and blind them.”

And yet, Carl’s research has shown it is highly unlikely these gangsters ever used razor blades in their caps and that the name probably just came from the peaked hats they chose to wear.

“It’s really interesting to look back at the mythologized version of the story and the reality,” says Carl, who has written a new book called The Real Peaky Blinders.





He explained: "There was no real Tommy Shelby and the Peaky Blinders were around in the 1890s and yet the series is set in the 1920s.

“As for the razor blades? They were only beginning to come in from the 1890s and were a luxury item, much too expensive for the Peaky Blinders to have used.

“And any hard man would tell you it would be very difficult to get direction and power with a razor blade sewn into the soft part of a cap. It was a romantic notion brought about in John Douglas’s novel, A Walk Down Summer Lane.

“But I can understand why the series producers used the name because it’s infused with gangsterdom.

“And I’m pleased the matriarchal strong women are a huge aspect of the programme. I think most working class men were raised by strong women.

"The series is gripping and beautifully shot. It has gained national attention and done a lot for Birmingham.”

(Image: Robert Viglasky)

Carl believes references to Birmingham pubs such as the Garrison and firms like the BSA help evoke a powerful sense of place amidst the fast-moving, thrilling plot, some of which has been filmed at the Black Country Living Musuem.

His research shows the Peaky Blinders were followed by a large pre-war gang called the Brummagem Boys, made up of a “loose collection of pick-pockets, racecourse thieves and pests who were gaining a lot of power”.

By the 1920s, when the TV series is set, a group called The Birmingham Gang emerged, many of whom had come from the Brummagem Boys. They went onto become the most feared gang in the country.

“My book is not about the series, it’s about the real people behind the story, and their story is as dramatic and compelling and bloody as the series,” he adds.





(Image: BBC/Tiger Aspect/Robert Viglasky)

The Birmingham Gang was led by a fearsome gangster called Billy Kimber, a former Brummagem Boy who went on to become the most powerful gangster in England.

In the TV series, gang leader Tommy Shelby is traumatised by the first world war but Carl doesn’t believe the war had such an impact on the likes of Billy Kimber.

“Billy Kimber deserted during the war,” explains Carl.

“Although he and others in the gang may have been traumatised by the war, they were mostly violent men before the war.

“The fighting they did was vicious fighting.

“Kimber was a very intelligent man with a fighting ability, a magnetic personality and a shrewdness of the importance of an alliance with London.”





(Image: Brian McDonald)

Whilst exploring these notorious gangsters, Carl wrote to author Graham Greene to ask about the research he carried out for his famous book Brighton Rock.

Carl writes: “In a letter that he wrote to me in 1988 he explained that “my novel Brighton Rock it is true deals a little with something similar to the Sabini gang, but I have forgotten now what I may have known when I wrote it.



"In those days I used to go frequently to Brighton and once spent an evening with a member of a gang who introduced me to a certain amount of slang in use and took me to one of the meeting places of his fellow gangsters. But the details are beyond recall, and would be no good to you.”

Carl adds: “I thought it was very kind that he took the time to write back to a young researcher. I was quite humbled by that.”

While conducting his research, he found many of the gang members' families knew little of their ancestors' shady pasts, simply because it was something that was never discussed.

“A lot of gang members didn’t talk about it when they got older, they were often ashamed of what they’d done when they were younger,” he explains.







“In writing the book, I’m not excusing this behaviour. It’s not about romanticising it because, in reality it was brutal.

“A lot of national newspapers become hysterical about gang fights but it’s important to remember they were nothing like the American mafia.

“These aren’t admirable people but I think it is a story that should be told.”

Check out part two of this story here

• The Real Peaky Blinders by Carl Chinn (£12.95, Brewin Books) is available online and from good bookshops.