Most of their members were young men, and some could be as young as 12. Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody is set for a role in the BBC gangster drama. The Real Peaky Blinders: How Billy Kimber REALLY died “In writing the book, I’m not excusing this behaviour.

The real life Peaky Blinders were long disbanded by the 1920s when the show starts—by that time Birmingham's mob scene was under the control of … The real-life Peaky Blinders weren’t quite as successful as the rags-to-riches Shelbys, whose criminal network evolves from a small local faction to a … The Real Peaky Blinders by Carl Chinn (£12.95, Brewin Books) is available online and from good bookshops. The actual Peaky Blinders were around from the 1890s rather than the 1920s, so that differs from the BBC series. It’s not about romanticising it because, in reality it was brutal.