The first season of Peaky Blinders is set in 1919: When we meet gang leader Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), he’s riding through the unpaved, muddy streets of Birmingham on a horse. World War I has finally come to a close after four bloody years in the trenches, heralding the dawn of a new age. When Season 5 comes to a close a decade later, it’s 1929. Tommy’s ride of choice is now a Bentley, and he holds a seat in Parliament as the MP for his hometown.

While Peaky Blinders follows the rise of the Shelby family’s fortunes, it’s also the tale of the interwar years in Britain — a time of radical social and economic change. Women enter the workforce in greater numbers, demanding to vote and a say in their futures; rigid class structures begin to soften and new ideologies take hold. Though many of the...