Prisons and Punishments of London - Hardcover

Byrne, Richard

9780245546785: Prisons and Punishments of London

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0245546782 ISBN 13: 9780245546785

Publisher: W.H. Allen / Virgin Books, 1989

There has never been a city with more prisons than London, and probably none whose courts have sent so many to public torment and execution. Prisons and Punishments of London is the first full survey of London's many prisons through the ages — from the Tower to Pentonville — and of the punishments meted out to felons. With a cast of characters ranging from highwayman Dick Turpin to reformer Elizabeth Fry, and packed with eyewitness accounts, anecdotes, little-known facts and numerous illustrations, Prisons and Punishments of London touches on everything associated with prison life, from the inmates to the rough justice of the day.

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Synopsis:

London has had many prisons, and the courts of London have sent many to public torment and execution. This survey touches on existing prisons but concentrates on the capital's vanished prisons - the Marshalsea, featured in Dickens' "Little Dorrit", the Bridewell, where female prisoners were flogged publicly in a specially built spectators' gallery, and Newgate, where the public could watch condemned men in their last hours as well as celebrate the execution. With accounts of people ranging from the highwayman Dick Turpin, to Elizabeth Fry, the reformer, this book includes eyewitness accounts, anecdotes and little-known facts. It touches on everything associated with prison life, from the inmates to the rough justice of the day.

About the Author:

Richard Byrne was born in Salford, raised and educated in Manchester, and later studied at the London School of Economics and Bedford College, London. Having once wanted to be a lawyer or an engineer, he moved with characteristic logic into the probation service and remains fascinated by the contrast between real-life and fictional crime. He lives in Manchester with his partner and two children—a household of book and museum addicts. More books from Richard Byrne are available at: http://ReAnimus.com/store/?author=Richard Byrne

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