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 characters and plotlines are fictional, each season is grounded in historical events, with many real-life figures (Winston Churchill and Sir Oswald Mosley for example) intersecting with Tommy and his family to shape the narrative. 

“With Peaky, the structure comes from the march of time; from history, basically,” creator Steven Knight says. “I’ve tried to make it move forward two years at a time with each series. That gives me a year to work in, and then I look at what was going on in that year. I look at the big stuff but also at local papers like the Birmingham Evening Mail. Often there’ll be a report in the local paper that will completely contradict everything that the history books tell you about what was going on at the time.”

Ahead of the sixth and final season, here’s a look back at some of the major moments of the last five.

'Peaky Blinders' Seasons 1-5 RecapCatch up on all the biggest moments before season 6.

1919: The end of World War I (Season 1)

The Peaky Blinders load up.

1919: The end of World War I (Season 1)

With the unprecedented bloodshed of World War I at an end, millions of men return home to the United Kingdom to try and pick up where they left off. Among them are Tommy Shelby and his brothers Arthur (Paul Anderson) and John (Joe Cole), who come back to Birmingham after four years in the trenches of France. Scarred, battle weary, and dealing with post-traumatic stress, they soon realize that the world has changed in their absence. Women have entered the workforce, and there is an increase in social and economic unrest. Revolution is in the air, as socialists like Freddie Thorne (Iddo Goldberg) and Ada Shelby (Sophie Rundle) fight for more opportunities for the working class. 

Change is also coming for the Peaky Blinders. Looking to the future, Tommy vows to expand the family business into more legitimate avenues. But when the gang accidentally steals a shipment of guns, Winston Churchill (yes, that Winston Churchill, except he isn’t prime minister yet) sends Chief Inspector Chester Campbell (Sam Neill) to retrieve them, fearing that they might fall into the hands of the increasingly militant Irish Republican Army (IRA) and be used against the government. That’s how undercover agent Grace (Annabelle Wallis) ends up working at The Garrison pub, reporting on Tommy’s activities to Campbell. But when the two fall in love, all bets are off. 

Where we leave off: The Peaky Blinders strike a deal with Major Campbell to return the guns. Tommy corners the betting market, taking over from Billy Kimber. Grace’s cover is blown, and she ends the season on a train platform, facing off with Campbell. A gun goes off — but whose?

1921: A split within the IRA (Season 2)

Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy) issues a warning.

1921: A split within the IRA (Season 2)

Grace lives! After shooting Major Campbell (who also survives), she escapes to America for a new life. Two years later, the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ends Ireland’s War of Independence but creates a split within the IRA, and of course, Tommy is caught in the middle of it. After carrying out a hit on behalf of the anti-treaty faction, he’s blackmailed by Campbell into working for the Crown in an undercover operation. Plagued by dreams of her lost children, Polly tries to look for them, and is finally reunited with Michael (Finn Cole), who joins the family business. Meanwhile, the Peaky Blinders’ expansion into London puts them at odds with rival gangs led by Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy) and Darby Sabini (Noah Taylor). The Jazz Age is in full swing, and that means we see a lot of nightclubs — most of which are controlled by Sabini — and booze, which Solomon manufactures and then partners with Tommy to sell at a high markup in Prohibition America. Everything comes to a head during the Epsom Derby, one of Britain’s most prestigious horse races, which symbolizes the way in which class lines have started to blur in the aftermath of World War I. 

Where we leave off: Grace tells Tommy she’s pregnant with his child. Polly shoots Major Campbell, who assaulted her earlier in the season. Tommy has a near-death experience but is released under orders of Winston Churchill.

1924: The first Labour government (Season 3)

Introducing Grace (Annabelle Wallis) and Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy)!

Robert Viglasky/Netflix

1924: The first Labour government (Season 3)

The Shelbys fortunes are now on the rise. We re-meet Tommy and Grace, who are finally married and living in a manor house just outside Birmingham — though compared to the Small Heath, it might as well be the moon. But this luxury comes at a price: The first-ever Labour government has been elected in 1923, and fear that communism is spreading has given rise to ultra-conservative organizations determined to enforce the status quo. One of these is the Economic League, led by Father Hughes (Paddy Considine), who blackmails Tommy into working for him. How? By helping former Russian aristocrats overthrow the Soviet government. It’s been seven years since the Russian Revolution, and many former aristocrats are living in exile in Britain. Known as the White Russians, they long for the return of the monarchy and are willing to pay Tommy a hefty sum to help. But as always in Peaky Blinders, things get complicated. 

Where we leave off: The Conservatives in government get their pretext to cut ties with the Soviet Union. Father Hughes ends up dead, as does Grace. Tommy ends up unscathed, while John, Arthur, Michael and Aunt Polly are arrested.

1926: Women on strike (Season 4)

Luca Changretta (Adrien Brody) and his trusty toothpick.

1926: Women on strike (Season 4)

America clashes with England when Italian gangster Luca Changretta (Adrien Brody) launches a blood feud with the Peaky Blinders for killing his father in Season 3. Tommy manages to get his family a reprieve from their hanging sentence, but John still ends up dead after Changretta ambushes him and Michael. 

Despite the questionable dealings, the Shelby’s business interests are mostly legitimate, and their factories continue to thrive — until a union action led by Jessie Eden (Charlie Murphy) threatens to cause trouble. A communist and the first woman shop steward in her factory, Eden is determined to obtain better working conditions and equal rights for women. When she calls a strike, Polly and the rest of the women Blinders join in.

Where we leave off: The feud with Changretta is resolved —spoiler: he’s killed by Arthur, whom everyone thought was dead — and Tommy runs for Parliament as the Labour representative for Birmingham and wins.

1929: The Wall Street crash (Season 5)

Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin) takes the stage.

1929: The Wall Street crash (Season 5)

The Roaring ’20s come to a screeching halt with the Wall Street crash of 1929. Tommy loses a significant sum of money, while Michael, who was running the Peaky Blinders’ operation in America, returns to London with his fiancée, Gina (Anya Taylor-Joy). Now a member of Parliament, Tommy is introduced to Sir Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin), a fellow MP and burgeoning fascist. (IRL, he would go on to lead the Hitler-sympathizing British Union of Fascists.) Under the guise of befriending Mosley and flirting with his ideology, Tommy hatches plans to kill him with the blessing of Winston Churchill. 

Where we leave off: At the last minute, the plan backfires and Mosley escapes unscathed, leaving Tommy feeling guilty and suicidal while holding a gun to his head in a field.

Every Time Someone Says 'Peaky Blinders' in 'Peaky Blinders' Everybody loves a post-war Birmingham accent.