1. Speaking of crime: towards a sociology of public sensibilities -- 2. About Macclesfield: social change and a sense of place -- 3. The common places of crime: crime in local talk -- 4. Youth, disorder and inter-generational conflicts -- 5. Anxieties of affluence in Prestbury village -- 6. Policing and demands for order -- 7. Some meanings and futures of security -- 8. Conclusions: from cast Cheshire to the wider world