Prison: Five Hundred Years of Life Behind Bars - Hardcover

Edward Marston

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1905615337 ISBN 13: 9781905615339

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2009

Synopsis

This compelling history of our most feared institution charts the growth of the national prison system in England and Wales, from castle dungeon to purpose-built concrete jail. Supported by unique material from The National Archives, it looks at aspects of prison life that stayed constant for centuries: loss of liberty, privacy and comfort; hard labour; restricted rations; solitary confinement; corporal punishment and execution - and describes key developments like Jeremy Bentham's panopticon, the Victorian spate of prison-building, and successive reform acts. Famous prisons from Newgate to Pentonville are depicted, as well as the curiosities, abuses and scandals that occurred within their walls, from the racking of Henry VIII's enemies to the force-feeding of suffragettes centuries later. At the heart of the book are dramatic stories of the men and women who lived or died behind bars. These include political prisoners like Lady Jane Grey, celebrities like Oscar Wilde, wartime convicts, suffragettes, cult criminals like the Krays and 'ordinary' prisoners like armed robber Hames Edward Spiers, who in 1930 committed suicide at Wandsworth Gaol in front of a group of JPs gathered to see him receive 15 lashes. There are also fascinating accounts of officers, governors and executioners as well as reformers like John Howard and Elizabeth Fry - the law-abiding who nonetheless spent their lives looking 'inside'. Contents: Introduction 1. The Tower and Local Gaols 2. The State of 18th-century Prisons 3. Rat-infested Prison Hulks 4. A Most Victorian Zeal 5. No Place for a Woman 6. Suffragettes and the 20th Century 7. The Prisoners of Two Wars 8. The Last Executions Conclusion Sources and Reading Index

About this title

Review:

utterly compelling carceral miscellany --New Statesman

A briliant new book --Daily Express

The way to use this book is to have it always on the reference shelf. Then whenever you engage with literature from Chaucer to the Victorians, simply pull it down, read a chapter and check up on what was going on in prisons at the time of writing --Libby Purves, The Times

Synopsis:

This compelling history of our most feared institution charts the growth of prisons across the country: castle dungeons and decaying hulks, the dreadful Fleet and Marshalsea of Dickens' novels and the soulless structures of "Dartmoor" and "Reading Gaol". Drawing on rarely seen material at The National Archives, it vividly portrays aspects of prison life that stayed constant for centuries: loss of liberty; privacy and comfort; hard labour; restricted rations; solitary confinement; and, corporal punishment and execution - as well as tracing key developments such as Jeremy Bentham's panopticon, the Victorian spate of prison-building, and successive reform Acts. The books also relates the curiosities, abuses and scandals that occurred within prison walls, from the racking of Henry VIII's enemies to the force feeding of suffragettes centuries later.At the heart of the book are dramatic stories of the men, women and children who lived - and died - behind bars. Their extraordinary tales range from those of political prisoners incarcerated in the Tower of London to celebrities such as Oscar Wilde who wrote so movingly of his imprisonment at "Reading Gaol".

"Prison" tells the story of the wartime convicts, suffragettes and highwaymen, cult criminals such as The Krays and 'ordinary' prisoners like armed robber James Edward Spiers - who in 1930 committed suicide at Wandsworth prison in front of a group of JPs gathered to see him receive 15 lashes. There are also fascinating accounts of officers, governers and executioners as well as reformers like John Howard and Elizabeth Fry, who spend their lives seeking to improve the lot of prisoners within.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1905615337
• ISBN 13: 9781905615339
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240