On March 20 it was published on Netflix the last act of a saga that has fascinated millions of spectators all over the world: Peaky Blinders. The climax of the saga is reached in the film that closes the story of Tommy Shelby, the well-known Birmingham gangster played by a masterful Cillian Murphy.
But who were the Peaky Blinders really and how much truth is told in the seasons that made this TV series a cult?
If in the television series the rise to criminal power of the Peaky Blinders is traced back to the end of the 1910s, reality tells us a different story. The golden age of the organization actually took place between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth centuryand it was much shorter than what was shown in the television series.
But the macro difference between reality and fiction is linked precisely to a key point of the latter: the family. Precisely that family that is a cross and a delight for Tommy Shelby, in reality never existed. In fact, the Peaky Blinders were not a single organized crime family, but rather an aggregate of youth street gangs that operated in the poorest neighborhoods of the city, such as the well-known Small Heath. Places where, too often, crime was the only alternative to starvation for a young man. Unlike the Shelby family, which throughout history expands its power far beyond just Birmingham, the real Peaky Blinders engage in much more rudimentary crimes such as theft, extortion in exchange for protection from shopkeepers and clandestine gambling.
A characteristic that the true story and the TV series have in common is the Peakys’ love for ferocious fights against the police or rival gangs. The leaders of the time had managed to buy the silence of policemen, lawyers and businessmen: they were all on their payroll, which is why the gang was untouchable for twenty years. The elegant style of the protagonists of the series was also a distinctive trait of the Small Heath criminals of the time. Flat caps, waistcoats and tailored jackets were an armor of elegance that communicated power and impunity among the degraded alleys of the slums. What is most likely fictitious related to the Shelby outfits in the series is the presence of razors in the brim of the hats. The razor blades that Tommy and his brothers use during scuffles to hurt their opponents were actually a luxury item at the time.
The main character is inspired by the real-life figure of Thomas Gilbert, the leader closest to the figure of Tommy. Unlike the character played by Cillian Murphy, Thomas Gilbert was not a war veteran, but an active criminal in the last years of the nineteenth century. While many Peaky Blinders were “simple” street criminals, Gilbert was one of the most organized and cunning members. It was also thanks to him that the Peaky Blinders stopped being just a gang of Small Heath and they began to control other areas of the city such as Cheapside. Unlike Tommy however, Gilbert was limited by the social barriers of the time: he never became a member of parliament and did not own mansions or horses.
If in the series Billy Kimber (a real person) is supplanted by the Shelbys, in reality exactly the opposite happened. It was Kimber and his gang, the “Birmingham Boys”to put an end to the rule of the Peaky Blinders in the English city.
