The real-life Peaky Blinders were not a sophisticated 1920s dynasty, but rather a loose, earlier collection of 1870s Birmingham street thugs focused on petty crime and assault. Unlike the fictionalized Shelby family, the actual gang featured members like Harry Fowles and Thomas Gilbert, and they were eventually outmatched by larger gangs by the 1920s. For a detailed breakdown of the true story behind the series, read the article at Netflix . The True Story Of The Bloody Gang From 'Peaky Blinders'