When poison pen letters caused chaos
Emily Cockayne chronicles the surge in anonymous letter writing in 19th and 20th-century Britain
Long before the rise of the internet troll, malicious letters written by anonymous authors were causing untold grief to those who received them, and tugging at the seams of social cohesion in small communities. Speaking to Spencer Mizen, Emily Cockayne reveals why these spiteful missives caused such chaos in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
Emily Cockayne is the author of Penning Poison: A History of Anonymous Letters (OUP, 2023)
Authors
Emily Cockayne is associate professor in early modern history at the University of East Anglia
Spencer is senior production editor of BBC History Magazine
Get exclusive access to Ruth Goodman’s six-week Academy course on Victorian Life, featuring two live Q&As + a book of your choice when you subscribe to BBC History Magazine
