Victorian Prison Lives: English Prison Biography, 1830-1914 - Couverture rigide

Priestley, Philip

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0416347703 ISBN 13 : 9780416347708

Editeur : Law Book Co of Australasia, 1985

Synopsis

Victorian Prison Lives: English Prison Biography, 1830-1914

A propos du livre

Quatrième de couverture

Victorian Prison Lives is the first account of the process of imprisonment in England between 1830 and 1914 to be drawn largely from the writings of prisoners themselves. The period was in some ways one of great change, beginning with an astonishing penitentiary experiment when prisons were seen as moral hospitals. But this approach eventually gave way to the idea of penal servitude and created a legacy of harshness and suffering still preserved in the reputations of Portland, Chatham and Dartmoor. It was only towards the end of the period that the concept of modern prison administration began to emerge.

But while statutory changes were taking place there was an underlying continuity. This is examined in a series of chapters on every aspect of prison life - from admission procedure, fellow prisoners and the nature of hard labour, diet and discipline to the process of release, which for a long-term prisoner could be as daunting as entry into prison. Philip Priestly has drawn on more than two hundred autobiographical accounts, including those of George and Austin Bidwell, the notorious Bank of England forgers; the Fenians Michael Davitt and Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa; William Lovett the Chartist; Mrs Mabrick the celebrated poisoner; but also memoirs of prison governors and wardens, chaplains and hangmen. Scholarly yet immensely readable, this book will be of unique value to anyone interested in the social history of the Victorian Age.

Biographie de l'auteur

Philip Priestly has worked for more than thirty years in and around the English criminal justice system - campaigning for victims' right, drawing attention to inequalities in sentencing, and advocating effective alternatives to prison. He is the author or co-author of twelve books, including Community of Scapegoats (1980), Offending Behaviour (1985) and Jail Journeys (1990). He has made thirty broadcast documentaries, including a BAFTA- nominated 'Cutting Edge' on neighbours' quarrels, and a study of victim-offender mediation which won a Royal Television Society award. In 1997, for a series on archaeology, he commissioned the research which established a 9,000-year-old DNA link between the skeleton of 'Cheddar Man' and Adrian Targett, a local history teacher.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Law Book Co of Australasia
• Date d'édition: 1985
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0416347703
• ISBN 13: 9780416347708
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 300
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible