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 stories of 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 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, who spent their lives seeking to improve the lot of prisoners within.
Book Description
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 from The National Archives, it vividly portrays aspects of prison life that stayed constant for centuries: loss of liberty, privacy and comfort; hard labor; restricted rations; solitary confinement; 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 book 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.
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About the Author
EDWARD MARSTON was born and brought up in South Wales. A full-time writer for over thirty years, he has worked in radio, film, television and the theatre. Prolific and highly successful, he is equally at home writing children's books or literary criticism, plays or biographies and the settings for his crime novels range from the world of professional golf to the compilation of the Domesday Survey. He is also a former Chairman of the Crime Writers Association.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting,but short,
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This review is from: Prison: Five Hundred Years of Life Behind Doors (Hardcover)
I've read all of Marston's "Railway Detective" series which are enjoyable,interesting and has superb characters. This book,although good, is almost an outline or preface for a longer,better book. If it were longer, it would have been much better.
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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prison hulks, female quarters, gaol fever Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Home Secretary, Elizabeth Fry, John Howard, House of Commons, Sound Archives, Oscar Wilde, Sylvia Pankhurst, Clifford Allen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Second World War, Home Office, No-Conscription Fellowship, Tower of London, Fenner Brockway, Lady Constance, Ruth Ellis, Houses of Parliament, Privy Council, Prime Minister, Great War, Queen Victoria, Wormwood Scrubs, House of Lords, Catherine of Aragon, Guildford Dudley Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
prison hulks, female quarters, gaol fever Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Home Secretary, Elizabeth Fry, John Howard, House of Commons, Sound Archives, Oscar Wilde, Sylvia Pankhurst, Clifford Allen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Second World War, Home Office, No-Conscription Fellowship, Tower of London, Fenner Brockway, Lady Constance, Ruth Ellis, Houses of Parliament, Privy Council, Prime Minister, Great War, Queen Victoria, Wormwood Scrubs, House of Lords, Catherine of Aragon, Guildford Dudley Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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