Staff Profile:Dr. Stephen Banks

Name:

Dr Stephen Banks

Job Title:

Lecturer and Co-director The Forum for Legal and Historical Research

Responsibilities:

Director of Undergraduate Admissions

Areas of Interest:

History of Criminal Justice, Violence and Inhibition, History of Popular Culture, Criminal Law

Research groups / Centres:

Publications:

Books

• Banks S, A Polite Exchange of Bullets; The Duel and the English Gentleman, 1750-1850, (Woodbridge: Boydell 2010)
• Banks S, "Art, Argument and London Observed: The work of Paul Gavarni and the London Essayists" in S. Banks, ed. Gaverni in London, (2009) New Jersey: True Bill

Book Chapters

• "Woodley v Metropolitan District Railway", in C. Mitchell & P. Mitchell (eds), Landmark Cases in the Law of Tort, (Oxford: Hart, 2010), 127-152.
• "Dead before Breakfast: The English Gentleman and Honour Affronted", in S. Bibb and D. Escandell (eds), Best Served Cold: Studies on Revenge (Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2010), http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/publishing/id-press/ebooks/best-served-cold<

Journals

• Banks, S. "Very little law in the case: Contests of Honour and the Subversion of the English Criminal Courts, 1780-1845" (2008) 19(3) King's Law Journal 575-594, (A special issue for the Forum for Legal and History Research edited by C. Smith and S. Banks).
• Banks, S. "An Honest But Mistaken Belief in London Legislation? Consent, Controversy and Sexual Offence Reform in New South Wales" The Law Teacher (2008) 42 (2) 228-235.
• Banks, S. "Dangerous Friends: The Second and the Later English Duel" (2009) 32 (1) Journal for Eighteenth Century Studies 87-106.
• Banks, S. "Killing with Courtesy: The English Duelist, 1785-1845," (2008) 47 Journal of British Studies 528-558.
• Banks, S. "Challengers Chastised and Duellists Deterred: Kings Bench and Criminal Informations, 1800-1820" (2007) ANZLH E-Journal, Refereed Paper No (4).
• Banks, S. "Speaking the City: Punishment, Performance and the Perception of London's Public Space 1780-1840" (2005) 16(2) Law and Critique 231-254.

Public Enquiry Reports

• L. Mulcahy and S. Banks, "Cross Sector Regulation of Poor Performance" a report compiled for the Department of Health: Independent Investigation into how the NHS handled allegations about the conduct of Clifford Ayling (2004) Cm 6298.

Recent Conference Papers

• "Dead before Breakfast: The English Gentleman and Honour Affronted", 1^st Global Conference on Revenge, Mansfield College, Oxford, July 2010.
• "The Dying Sight: Execution and the English People 1841-1868" Law and the Victorians Conference , University of Reading, April 2010.
• "Challengers Chastised and Duellists Deterred: King's Bench and Criminal Informations 1800-1820" presented at the Forum for Legal and History Research symposium: The Geography of Justice: Space and Place in the History of English Law, September 2008.

Qualifications:

B.A., M.A (UCL); LL.B. (Birkbeck), PhD (Birkbeck)

Biographical Details:

Dr Banks's doctoral thesis was entitled, "Killing with Courtesy: The English Duellist 1785-1845". His main research interests are in law, anthropology and cultural history, with a particular focus on violence and inhibition and the relationship between law and honour culture. Prior to studying law, he gained a degree in Ancient Near Eastern History at University College London and studied cuneiform at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Thereafter he wrote his MA dissertation upon the subject of the early history and regulation of magic. Before turning to academia Dr Banks worked for a number of years in the Home Office with a particular interest in merchant shipping and shipping intelligence. He is currently a director of the Forum for Legal and Historical Research and a coordinator of the MA (res) programme in legal history at Reading. He is always interested in hearing from potential postgraduates full time or part time who are independent thinkers, lively, committed, and interested in the areas of 18^th and 19^th century criminal justice and/or in the area of honour culture.