John Springhall has written a highly perceptive and entertaining account of how commercial culture in Britain and America has been viewed, since its inception during the process of industrialization, as a force likely to undermine juvenile morals. There has been wave after wave of scares: from Victorian penny 'gaff' theatres and 'penny dreadful' novels to Hollywood gangster films and American 'horror comics'.

A final chapter refers to 'video nasties', violence on television, 'gangsta-rap' and computer games, each in turn playing the role of 'folk devils' which must be causing delinquency. Why particular issues suddenly galvanize public attention, and why so many people have associated delinquency with the 'effects' of 'sensational' entertainment, form the fascinating subjects of this book.