Notorious Prisons of the World
A captivating history of doing time throughout the centuries: from England’s medieval dungeons to America’s supermax detention facilities.
 
The first prisons were castle hellholes, places of neglect, oblivion, and slow death. Every civilization has had its dissenters, deviants, and political offenders, and so prisons became essential to the retention of power. As the centuries passed, and prisons were needed for other reprobates—such as debtors and common thieves—legal systems across the world began to cater to a growing variety of prisoners, and the business of incarceration began.
 
Notorious Prisons of the World traces this development, from the state prisons of Athens and Rome, to the birth of the houses of correction and the penitentiary. Stephen Wade tells fascinating stories of the infamous penal colonies and state prisons across the stage of world history, from Alcatraz and Devil’s Island to the fortress of Colditz, and from the Siberian gulags to the massive super jails sprouting across modern America. He also shares the stories of inmates and staff, political regimes, and the rise and fall of empires, all seen through the prison walls. In doing so, Wade throws light on the state-structured punishments which have stripped away individual freedoms. Sometimes with a degree of humanitarian concern, and sometimes through sheer barbarism.
1114087464
Notorious Prisons of the World
A captivating history of doing time throughout the centuries: from England’s medieval dungeons to America’s supermax detention facilities.
 
The first prisons were castle hellholes, places of neglect, oblivion, and slow death. Every civilization has had its dissenters, deviants, and political offenders, and so prisons became essential to the retention of power. As the centuries passed, and prisons were needed for other reprobates—such as debtors and common thieves—legal systems across the world began to cater to a growing variety of prisoners, and the business of incarceration began.
 
Notorious Prisons of the World traces this development, from the state prisons of Athens and Rome, to the birth of the houses of correction and the penitentiary. Stephen Wade tells fascinating stories of the infamous penal colonies and state prisons across the stage of world history, from Alcatraz and Devil’s Island to the fortress of Colditz, and from the Siberian gulags to the massive super jails sprouting across modern America. He also shares the stories of inmates and staff, political regimes, and the rise and fall of empires, all seen through the prison walls. In doing so, Wade throws light on the state-structured punishments which have stripped away individual freedoms. Sometimes with a degree of humanitarian concern, and sometimes through sheer barbarism.
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Notorious Prisons of the World

Notorious Prisons of the World

by Stephen Wade
Notorious Prisons of the World

Notorious Prisons of the World

by Stephen Wade

eBook

$17.99 

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Overview

A captivating history of doing time throughout the centuries: from England’s medieval dungeons to America’s supermax detention facilities.
 
The first prisons were castle hellholes, places of neglect, oblivion, and slow death. Every civilization has had its dissenters, deviants, and political offenders, and so prisons became essential to the retention of power. As the centuries passed, and prisons were needed for other reprobates—such as debtors and common thieves—legal systems across the world began to cater to a growing variety of prisoners, and the business of incarceration began.
 
Notorious Prisons of the World traces this development, from the state prisons of Athens and Rome, to the birth of the houses of correction and the penitentiary. Stephen Wade tells fascinating stories of the infamous penal colonies and state prisons across the stage of world history, from Alcatraz and Devil’s Island to the fortress of Colditz, and from the Siberian gulags to the massive super jails sprouting across modern America. He also shares the stories of inmates and staff, political regimes, and the rise and fall of empires, all seen through the prison walls. In doing so, Wade throws light on the state-structured punishments which have stripped away individual freedoms. Sometimes with a degree of humanitarian concern, and sometimes through sheer barbarism.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781473822412
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date: 02/20/2019
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 256
File size: 6 MB

About the Author

Stephen Wade is a biographer and social historian, usually associated with crime and law, but here he turns his attention to a place he has known for forty years, as he has lived and worked in Scunthorpe all that time. His most recent books have been "Going to Extremes", "The Justice Women" and three volumes in the "Your Town in the Great War" series (all Pen & Sword), and :No More Soldiering" (Amberley).

Table of Contents

Introduction 6

Chapter 1 The First Dark Places 28

Chapter 2 Judgement and Debt 41

Chapter 3 Prison and Imperial Power 59

Chapter 4 Europe: From Dungeons to Houses of Correction 72

Chapter 5 Work and Pain: From Penal Colonies to Gulags 89

Chapter 6 Reform and the Penitentiary: The American Experience 109

Chapter 7 Punishment as Commodity and Masterplan 127

Chapter 8 Politicals, Enemies and Doing Time 143

Chapter 9 A Short History of Modern Failures 165

Chapter 10 History from Inside 178

Conclusions 192

Glossary 195

Bibliography 197

Index 205

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