Fight Club: A History of Violence

More than two centuries ago, England's toughest women squared off in the streets of London for no-holds-barred bloodsport. Explore their story here.

The British embrace of violence during the Victorian era was easily seen in the regard held for bare-knuckle boxers. Skilled fighters were handsomely rewarded, while losers faced bleak futures.

Both sides of the class divide, in Georgian Britain, found in duels not only a novel distraction but a tidy way of settling disputes.

Explore fighting in 1400s Tudor England, where knights fought through bloodshed and massacre in the name of survival.