Manchester University Press - The Many Lives of Corruption Book

Explore how corruption has shaped and undermined the history of public life in modern Britain. This academic collection provides a detailed look at two and a half centuries of political and social change. It tracks the evolution of public integrity from the late eighteenth-century challenges to aristocratic privilege and Old Corruption through to the twentieth-century scandals that affected Westminster and municipal governments. This book offers a unique perspective by examining both the successes and the limitations of anti-corruption reforms. It investigates how the very meaning of corruption has shifted over time. For students of British history, political science, or sociology, this work serves as a foundational text for understanding the long-term struggle to reform public life and the persistent challenges faced by democratic institutions.