The outbreak of urban unrest in Bristol in 1980 was the turning point, and urban unrest spread to many other cities from 1981 to 1986. The police response to the violence convinced many people that the way policing was carried out was a vital factor in the context of urban unrest, and many police officers suggested that agitators had fostered the disorders. Causes of the disorders are discussed in historical, social, and comparative contexts, and complexities of policing urban localities are examined. The effect of unemployment, racial disadvantage, and inner-city decline on urban unrest and the role of social injustice in fostering disorder are considered. A chronology of civil disorders in England in 1985 is appended. 16 notes